Rescuers search for survivors as Indonesian quake death toll rises to 47

INDONESIA: Rescuers combed through debris for survivors on Saturday (Aug 15) after a powerful earthquake struck off Indonesia’s eastern Flores island, killing at least 47 people, according to a disaster official.

The national disaster management agency (BNPB) raised the death toll from 40 late Saturday, and rescue official Fathur Rahman said 50 people were injured in the 7.7-magnitude quake.

Suharyanto, who leads the BNPB, said earlier that people were trapped in several buildings.

“These will be the initial targets of the disaster response teams,” said Suharyanto, who, like many Indonesians, uses one name.

Nearly 160 houses, dozens of educational and health facilities and other public buildings were damaged when the earthquake struck the popular tourist island in Indonesia’s east, the BNPB reported.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said preparations were underway to bring aid to some 2,000 people in temporary shelters.

The government sent 50,000 aid packages weighing a total of 275 tonnes to the area, and European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen offered help from the bloc’s Copernicus Earth observation satellites.

“Europe stands ready to deploy Copernicus, our eyes in the sky, to support search and rescue efforts. Indonesia, we stand with you,” she wrote on X.

“LIKE WE WERE ON A TRAMPOLINE”

“I have never felt an earthquake this big,” Yulian Juita Ekalia, who lives in Ruteng city more than 100km west of the epicentre, told AFP by telephone hours after the tremor.

“It felt like we were on a trampoline; it was really scary,” said the 37-year-old university lecturer, who was jolted awake at around 5.30am local time.

“As I rushed to get outside, everything in the house fell down: The television, my son’s trophies, the dish racks, suitcases on top of the wardrobes. When I got outside, my son and neighbours were already there, screaming in fear.”

Rescue official Fathur told AFP the focus was on locating victims who may be buried under rubble, but rescue efforts have been complicated by landslides cutting off roads.

Many Flores inhabitants were left without electricity and telecommunications.