A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off the coast of eastern Indonesia early Saturday, damaging buildings and prompting a tsunami warning that was later lifted, with no immediate reports of casualties.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake struck Indonesia’s Flores region at 5:58 a.m. local time at a depth of about 10 km, with an epicenter roughly 68 km north-northwest of the city of Ende in East Nusa Tenggara province. Several aftershocks followed, including tremors measuring 5.9, 5.6 and 6.1 in magnitude.
Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency issued a tsunami warning for parts of East and West Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi provinces, urging residents to stay away from beaches and riverbanks and move to higher ground. The national disaster agency, BNPB, said the warning was later lifted.
Footage circulating on social media showed a building partially collapsed at a hotel in Labuan Bajo, with residents fleeing into the streets. The USGS estimated very strong shaking affected more than 500,000 people on Flores Island, with moderate to strong shaking felt by several million more across the wider region, and warned of a heightened risk of landslides.
Indonesia, a vast archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a zone of intense seismic and volcanic activity. The same region was struck by a magnitude-7 earthquake in December 1992 that triggered a tsunami killing about 2,500 people on Flores Island.
Authorities said they were monitoring tide gauges for any further signs of tsunami activity following the quake.
