More than fifty people died and another 5,000 have been evacuated after the strong magnitude 7.7 earthquake that shook the coast of Flores Island, east of Indonesia, blocking roads and causing landslides, according to authorities.
Read more USA: Flooding in Indiana leaves at least six dead and forces the rescue of dozens of people
The earthquake occurred around 6:00 a.m. local time on Saturday (6:00 p.m. Friday in Chile), with its epicenter located 62 kilometers northwest of Ende – the most populated city of Flores – and at a depth of only 10 kilometers, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Previously, the official toll placed the fatalities in the districts of Manggarai (24), East Manggarai (17), Sikka (3), Ngada (1), Ende (1), and West Manggarai (1), a total figure that in the latest report rose to 51.
Meanwhile, 77 people suffered minor injuries, according to the report given by the Deputy Minister of Health, Benjamin Paulus Octavianus, in a televised meeting.
The authority also reported that more than a hundred homes on the island suffered damage and landslides have been recorded in some parts of Flores.
The airport of the tourist town of Komodo was affected, although it remains operational, according to the Minister of Transport, Dudy Purwagandhi.
About 5,000 residents were evacuated from coastal areas after the strong tremor, which triggered an early tsunami warning, later lifted.
Read more At least one dead and seven injured in the latest Israeli attacks in Gaza City
Among them, more than 3,300 people in the Sikka region self-evacuated, according to the Indonesian National Agency for Disaster Management and Mitigation (BNPB).
Some residents of that same district decided to stay outside their collapsed homes, under makeshift tents made with tarps, while others took shelter in a tent outside a hospital in the port city of Maumere.
“Almost none of the residents of Sikka dared to stay at home, so they slept on a porch or in an outdoor tent”, said Simon Subandi, vice governor of Sikka, to the KompasTV news channel.
In the Ende district, several homes suffered flooding after the seismic movement caused waves up to one meter high.
The earthquake, followed by about 341 aftershocks, is the worst Indonesia has suffered in years, despite the archipelago frequently experiencing large magnitude earthquakes due to being located in the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire.
A zone of intense seismic and volcanic activity, due to the convergence of several tectonic plates, which starts in New Zealand, rises along the coast of Asia, passing through Japan and the Philippines, and descends along the west coast of America, from the United States to Chile.
