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A 7.7-magnitude earthquake has struck off Indonesia’s eastern island of Flores, sending thousands of residents fleeing to higher ground after authorities issued a tsunami warning.
The shallow earthquake struck early Saturday off Flores’ northern coast, about 68 kilometres (42 miles) northwest of the coastal town of Ende, according to US and Indonesian authorities.
Residents in Nagekeo regency, the area closest to the epicentre, rushed towards higher ground after the sea appeared to retreat, according to AFP journalists at the scene.
The initial earthquake was followed by several strong aftershocks, including one measuring magnitude 6.1.
“Suddenly it started to shake and I panicked,” Lukas Lotar, a 31-year-old hospital customer service official in Maumere, told AFP.
“Patients also fled the hospital, the jolt was big. I saw some walls were cracked,” he said.
Yohanes Babo, 56, said he was at a market in Nagekeo when the earthquake struck.
“The shaking was strong. Thankfully, we were already outside the house,” he told AFP.
“People were panicking, running here and there. We’re evacuating for the time being… and trying to get to the hills,” he said, adding that his family was safe.
Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) initially warned that tsunami waves could follow the earthquake and urged residents along vulnerable coastlines to evacuate.
“We strongly urge our communities along the northern coast of Flores and in the southern parts, on the southern islands and across the southern region, to carry out self-evacuation immediately,” Abdul Muhari, an official at the national disaster agency, BNPB, said.
He advised residents to move at least two kilometres inland or to hills more than 10 metres above sea level.
BMKG earthquake and tsunami director Wijayanto said modelling indicated the possibility of tsunami waves affecting parts of East Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi and West Nusa Tenggara.
An alert was issued for waves between 0.5 and three metres (1.6 to 9.8 feet), but authorities later lifted the warning.
“We have ended (the tsunami warning) but we will keep monitoring the sea level,” Wijayanto said.
AFP reported that residents in Maumere were evacuating to higher ground, while television footage showed hundreds of people leaving areas of Nagekeo amid rubble from damaged buildings.
No deaths or injuries have been reported so far, although authorities said tsunami waves measuring between 19 and 30 centimetres had been detected.
Indonesia lies on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, a zone of intense seismic activity that stretches through Japan, Southeast Asia and around the Pacific basin, making the country particularly vulnerable to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
The country suffered one of the world’s deadliest natural disasters in 2004, when a 9.1-magnitude earthquake off Sumatra triggered a massive tsunami that killed about 220,000 people across the region, including roughly 170,000 in Indonesia.
In 2018, earthquakes on Lombok and neighbouring Sumbawa killed more than 550 people. Later that year, a 7.5-magnitude earthquake and tsunami struck Palu on Sulawesi, leaving more than 4,300 people dead or missing.
