Thousands in Indonesia Await Aid After Quake Kills 68, Overshadows Independence Day

As Indonesia celebrated its 81st Independence Day on Monday, thousands of people on the island of Flores were still waiting for aid to arrive after a powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake killed at least 68 people, injured more than 200 others, and damaged over 1,300 homes.

The devastating earthquake struck East Nusa Tenggara province on Saturday, with the epicenter located near the island of Flores. The quake occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles) and was followed by a tsunami warning that was later lifted.

Residents fled in panic as the quake hit, and authorities have since recorded over 1,576 aftershocks. Many residents were forced to camp outside collapsed homes under tarpaulin tents overnight into Monday, sleeping outside due to the danger of more aftershocks.

An Associated Press photojournalist reported widespread devastation across the island, with fallen trees blocking roads, giant boulders hurled down slopes by landslides, and homes left shattered or heavily damaged. Buildings collapsed onto parked cars, leaving residents without shelter or access to basic necessities.

For many residents, the disaster revived painful memories of a powerful earthquake and tsunami that struck Flores in 1992, killing about 2,500 people. ‘My house is just rubble now,’ said Rasyid Jafar, a clothing trader in the village of Reo, the hardest-hit area in Manggarai regency. ‘We need food, medicine, and clean water urgently.’

As the country marked its Independence Day, President Prabowo Subianto asked participants to pray for people affected by disasters in East Nusa Tenggara and other parts of the country. A nationwide moment of silence was observed to honor the nation’s independence heroes.

According to the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), more than 5,000 people were forced into temporary shelters, and over 1,300 homes were damaged, with nearly 250 destroyed on Flores alone. The province’s governor declared a 14-day state of emergency on Sunday.

Aid workers reached tiny Palue Island, one of the areas closest to the earthquake’s epicenter, late Sunday, after a difficult sea and land journey through landslide-hit terrain. Authorities said initial assessments revealed extensive damage, with one villager killed, two seriously injured, and nearly 150 homes destroyed.

Indonesia is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions due to its location 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 that killed more than 4,400 people. In 2004, a magnitude 9.1 quake off Sumatra unleashed a tsunami that killed about 230,000 people in a dozen countries, nearly 170,000 in Aceh province alone.