Indonesia earthquake kills 51, forcing thousands to evacuate as roads are cut off

A powerful magnitude-7.7 earthquake struck eastern Indonesia on Saturday, resulting in at least 51 deaths and prompting the evacuation of around 5,000 people, according to authorities. The quake triggered numerous landslides and severed roads, leaving thousands stranded. Thirty-six individuals sustained serious injuries, while 77 experienced minor injuries during the Saturday morning incident in East Nusa Tenggara province, declared Deputy Health Minister Benjamin Paulus Octavianus during a televised briefing.

The region experienced over 341 aftershocks following the primary quake. This earthquake marks the most severe in Indonesia in recent years, surpassing a 2022 quake in West Java that claimed over 3,300 lives. More than three thousand residents in the Sikka region either self-evacuated or found themselves stranded in a sports arena, reported the disaster mitigation agency BNPB.

Some Sikka residents sought refuge under makeshift tents made of tarps, while others received medical treatment in a tent outside a hospital in the port town of Maumere. According to Simon Subandi, deputy regent of Sikka, "Almost all of Sikka's residents didn't dare stay indoors, so they slept on a porch or a tent outside." To address the crisis, more than 3,500 military and police officers have been deployed to the affected region, informed Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya.

Rescuers successfully reached parts of Maumere previously blocked by landslides, as reported by Indonesia's search and rescue agency. Of the missing individuals, a majority were trapped under debris, with over 1,300 homes damaged, as stated by BNPB. Twenty petrol stations were incapacitated due to power outages, revealed state energy company Pertamina.

The East Nusa Tenggara government is contemplating declaring an emergency in the province to mobilize necessary resources and funds. The earthquake's epicenter had been struck in 1992 by a magnitude-7.5 quake that caused significant devastation, according to Indonesia's geophysics agency. As a vast archipelago of 290 million people, Indonesia is situated within the "Pacific Ring of Fire," a seismically active region where tectonic plates converge, leading to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.