A man clears rubble from an earthquake-damaged house in Lembor, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (AP photo)
Help started arriving on Aug. 16 for thousands of evacuees on Indonesia’s Flores Island after a powerful earthquake killed 48 people, injured dozens and damaged hundreds of houses and buildings.
Some 5,000 people fled their homes as the 7.7-magnitude quake hit the island early Aug. 15, followed by at least 341 aftershocks in the hours that followed, a spokesman for the BNPB national disaster agency, Berton Suar Pelita Panjaitan, said.
People in some areas were left without electricity and telecommunications and at least one emergency access road remained inaccessible.
“We need food, drink, medicines, and diapers for the children,” Umri, a resident of Nangahale village on the north coast of Flores, told AFP on Aug. 16 morning.
The 55-year-old, who like many Indonesians uses one name, has been hiding out on a hilltop for 24 hours with others afraid to return home.
Flores was struck by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake in 1992 that triggered a tsunami and killed about 2,500 people.
BNPB head Suharyanto said on Aug. 16 that at least five helicopters, several planes, a naval vessel and search and rescue ships were on their way to help.
Berton said at least 101 Flores residents were reported injured in the quake.
Survivors were in urgent need of assistance in the form of emergency tents, food, medicines, blankets, camp beds, mats, clean water and electricity generators, he added. The death toll rose by one from Aug. 15 night to Aug. 16.
Local search and rescue official Fathur Rahman told AFP yesterday there were no reports of people buried or missing.
