Earthquake in Flores: Thousands Await Aid

Thousands remained in need of assistance on Indonesia’s Flores Island as the nation marked its 81st Independence Day. This came two days after a powerful earthquake claimed at least 68 lives, injured over 200, and damaged thousands of homes.

Residents in Flores, located in the province of East Nusa Tenggara, spent the day mourning their losses. Military teams made attempts to distribute food, clean water, and clothing to communities that couldn’t be reached by air.

The earthquake on Saturday morning caused widespread destruction. Buildings collapsed onto parked cars, homes were wrecked, and roads were blocked by trees and rocks.

My house is now just rubble,

lamented Rasyid Jafar, a clothing vendor in Reo village, the hardest-hit area in Manggarai district.

At the Indonesian Independence Day ceremony in the capital, Jakarta, President Prabowo Subianto requested attendees to pray for those affected by disasters in East Nusa Tenggara and other regions. He led a national moment of silence in honor of the country’s independence heroes.

The earthquake damaged more than 4,500 homes when it struck Flores early on Saturday. Approximately 19,000 people were forced into temporary shelters, and 213 were injured, according to the National Disaster Management Agency, or BNPB. The disaster also damaged 122 healthcare facilities, 252 schools, and 84 places of worship.

The provincial governor declared a 14-day state of emergency on Sunday. The quake hit at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles) shortly before 6 AM, according to the United States Geological Survey. Alerts for a tsunami were issued but later lifted. Authorities have recorded 1,576 aftershocks since, though only 54 were felt by residents.

Thousands Await Aid Amid Devastation

On Flores, many camped out overnight into Monday beside collapsed homes or under makeshift shelters, choosing the outdoors due to the threat of more aftershocks.

The disaster revived memories of a major earthquake and tsunami that struck Flores in 1992, killing about 2,500 people. With thousands still requiring food, shelter, and medical treatment, the government deployed over 1,800 military and police personnel across the disaster area, supported by 10 aircraft and various ships, to distribute over 100 metric tons of emergency aid.

Almost 5,400 food packages, two field hospitals, medicines, and clothing were being delivered to communities throughout the disaster zone. However, logistical challenges have slowed aid delivery to some severely affected areas, according to Abdul Muhari, BNPB’s deputy chief, in a video statement.

Authorities set up two emergency field hospitals in Ruteng, the hardest-hit locality, to treat earthquake victims as local hospitals sustained damages. Two crisis management teams supervised an emergency health operations center, said Muhari.

Rescue teams continue searching for victims in affected areas, though no resident has reported missing family members.

Rescuers Strive to Reach Isolated Communities

Aid workers reached the small island of Palue, near the quake’s epicenter, late Sunday after a challenging journey by sea and land through landslide-stricken terrain, authorities reported. Thousands of residents still needed urgent help.

Steep roads, blocked by landslides, posed significant risks, as described by Marselus Yugo Amboro, deputy police chief of Sikka district. His team was among the first to reach the island with emergency supplies.

Initial assessments showed extensive damage, with one villager dead, two seriously injured, and close to 150 homes destroyed.

Indonesia, an archipelago with over 17,000 islands, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions due to its placement on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a horseshoe-shaped arc of seismic faults and volcanoes.

In 2018, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake triggered a tsunami on the island of Sulawesi, killing over 4,400 people. In 2004, a magnitude 9.1 earthquake off Sumatra triggered a tsunami that killed about 230,000 people across 12 countries, nearly 170,000 of them in Aceh province.

Karmini reported from Jakarta. Associated Press journalists Edna Tarigan, Dita Alangkara, and Andi Jatmiko in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.