Indonesia Earthquake Kills 38 and Triggers Landslides on Flores

A powerful offshore earthquake struck Indonesia early on Saturday, leaving at least 38 people dead and triggering widespread landslides across the Flores region. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the initial tremor registered a magnitude of 7.7 and hit at a shallow depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) at 5:58 a.m. Local time. The epicenter was 68 kilometers (42 miles) north-northwest of Ende in East Nusa Tenggara province. Several aftershocks followed the initial quake.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency chief Suharyanto told a news conference, referring to the first earthquake: "Thirty-eight people have been confirmed dead, two were seriously injured, 11 sustained minor injuries, and approximately 2,000 people have evacuated on their own." Authorities said six people were injured and two others were missing after a landslide triggered by the quake. The shaking wreaked havoc across multiple regencies on Flores Island.

Media additions

Impact Across Flores Island

Fathur Rahman, head of the Maumere Search and Rescue Agency, said rescuers had recovered at least 38 bodies from the three hardest-hit regencies of Sikka, West Manggarai and East Manggarai. Eight of the victims were found in a landslide in the village of Reok in Manggarai, Rahman said. East Nusa Tenggara Police Chief Rudi Darmoko said the earthquake caused severe damage and collapsed buildings. He said power outages in cities and villages had hampered the flow of information and complicated search and rescue efforts. Darmoko noted,

"We are continuing to collect reports of damage and casualties, but there are communication disruptions,"

Rudi Darmoko, East Nusa Tenggara Police Chief

He said that landslides in Ende regency triggered by the earthquake also cut off the Trans-Flores highway, a roughly 435-mile paved mountain road spanning Flores Island, from Labuan Bajo to Larantuka. Local infrastructure suffered extensive damage. Yohanna Embu, a resident of Sikka regency, described the chaotic scenes as buildings sustained heavy structural failures.

"Many buildings here were damaged ... I saw that the waiting room at the port terminal in Maumere had collapsed,"

Yohanna Embu, Sikka regency resident

Panic also spread to Labuan Bajo, a gateway town to eastern Indonesia’s Komodo National Park, one of the country’s best-known attractions, alongside reported damage in Bima, a city in neighboring West Nusa Tenggara province, and in parts of southern Sulawesi Island.

Students at St. Peter Major Seminary in Sikka who were attending morning Mass fled in panic when the roof of an assembly hall collapsed, said the Rev. Guidelbertus Tanga, rector of the seminary, which is known locally as Ritapiret Seminary on the predominantly Catholic island of Flores. Rector Guidelbertus Tanga recounted the chaos.

"Our students and nuns ran out in panic beneath a collapsing roof," Tanga said. "At least one priest suffered a broken leg after jumping from the second floor of a building during the quake."

Guidelbertus Tanga, Rector of St. Peter Major Seminary

Footage on local television showed patients at several hospitals being evacuated from buildings as a precaution following the quake. Hospital staff moved equipment outdoors, including beds, IV stands and oxygen cylinders, and set up temporary treatment areas to adapt to emergency conditions. It said about 2,000 villagers in Nagekeo regency fled their homes to temporary shelters.

Official Response and International Aid

Indonesian authorities initially issued a tsunami warning for parts of East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi provinces, and urged residents to stay away from beaches and riverbanks. The warning was later lifted after Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency said monitoring showed no significant changes in sea levels that could threaten coastal communities. The National Disaster Management Agency deployed a helicopter to assist with logistics and support emergency response operations, including possible evacuations if needed, the agency said in a statement. The air support is considered crucial given East Nusa Tenggara’s geography, which consists of numerous islands and presents significant transportation and access challenges.

The United States Geological Survey reported the latest 6.9-magnitude quake in western Sumatra, with its epicenter near Pematangsiantar and about 126km southeast of Medan. The quake struck at a depth of 183km and no tsunami warning was issued after the tremor.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because of its location on the "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin. A powerful earthquake caused a tsunami in 1992 that killed about 2,500 people on Flores, part of a group of islands in eastern Indonesia. In 2018, a magnitude 7.5 quake spawned a large localized tsunami that wiped out coastal areas, while liquefaction caused by the shaking turned entire neighborhoods into rivers of sludge in the eastern Indonesian city of Palu, on the Palu-Koro Fault. The disaster killed more than 4,400 people. In 2010, a 10-foot (3-meter) wave struck the Mentawai Islands off the western coast of Sumatra, just minutes after a massive offshore earthquake. More than 400 people were killed and hundreds of homes were destroyed. In December 2004, a massive magnitude 9.1 earthquake off Sumatra in western Indonesia triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries.

Emergency Overview

• Primary event: Magnitude 7.7 earthquake off Flores Island at a depth of 10 kilometers
• Secondary event: Magnitude 6.9 earthquake in western Sumatra at a depth of 183 kilometers
• Hardest-hit regencies: Sikka, West Manggarai, and East Manggarai
• Critical infrastructure impact: Trans-Flores highway blocked by landslides; widespread power and communication outages
• Evacuations: Approximately 2,000 villagers moved to temporary shelters in Nagekeo regency

Find further regional reports in our dedicated World coverage section.