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

Rescuers combed through debris for survivors on Saturday after a powerful earthquake struck off Indonesia's eastern Flores island, killing at least 47 people.

The national disaster management agency raised the death toll from 40 late Saturday, with rescue official Fathur Rahman reporting 50 people injured in the 7.7-magnitude quake.

How many people died in the Indonesia earthquake?

At least 47 people were killed and 50 injured after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck off Flores island early Saturday. The national disaster management agency, known as BNPB, raised the toll from an initial 40 later in the day. Rescue teams continue searching for people trapped under rubble as the death toll is expected to change.

What damage did the earthquake cause on Flores island?

BNPB chief Suharyanto said earlier that people were trapped in several buildings, calling these locations the initial targets of disaster response teams. Nearly 160 houses, along with dozens of educational and health facilities and other public buildings, were damaged when the earthquake struck the popular tourist island in eastern Indonesia. Many Flores residents were left without electricity and telecommunications, and rescue efforts were complicated by landslides cutting off roads.

Rescue official Fathur Rahman said teams were focused on locating victims who may be buried under rubble. Residents in Nagekeo, an area close to the epicentre, raced for higher ground as the sea retreated early Saturday, a possible sign of an approaching tsunami witnessed by AFP journalists. A tsunami warning was later lifted, though authorities urged people not to return to damaged buildings due to the risk from aftershocks.

How are survivors describing the earthquake?

"I have never felt an earthquake this big," said Yulian Juita Ekalia, a 37-year-old university lecturer who lives in Ruteng city, more than 100 kilometres west of the epicentre. She told AFP by telephone that she was jolted awake around 5:30am local time. "It felt like we were on a trampoline, it was really scary," she said, describing how household items crashed down as she rushed outside to find her son and neighbours already there, screaming in fear.

Yulian said she later dragged her stove outside to cook, fearing further tremors, and saw patients being treated under emergency tents outside a nearby hospital. Nagekeo resident Yohanes Babo, 56, said he was at a market when the shaking began. "The shaking was strong. Thankfully, we were already outside the house," he told AFP, describing people running in panic and evacuating toward the hills.

What relief efforts are underway in Indonesia?

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said preparations were underway to bring aid to roughly 2,000 people in temporary shelters. Indonesia's government sent 50,000 aid packages weighing a total of 275 tonnes to the affected area. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offered support from the bloc's Copernicus Earth observation satellites, writing on X: "Europe stands ready to deploy Copernicus, our eyes in the sky, to support search and rescue efforts. Indonesia, we stand with you."

Hundreds of residents remained outside hours after the quake as dozens of aftershocks continued to shake the island, the strongest measured at magnitude 6.1. Waves of up to 1.6 metres were reported in some coastal regions of Flores, according to Indonesia's BMKG geological agency.

Where did the earthquake strike and was there a second quake?

The epicentre of the shallow quake was located just off the north coast of Flores, according to US and Indonesian authorities. The affected areas have few, if any, high-rise buildings. A separate, deeper onland quake measuring magnitude 6.9 struck near Pematangsiantar on Sumatra island, thousands of kilometres away, about 12 hours after the Flores tremor, with no initial reports of damage, casualties, or a tsunami alert.

Has Flores experienced major earthquakes before?

Indonesia experiences frequent earthquakes due to its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of intense seismic activity stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin. Flores was struck by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake in 1992, which triggered a tsunami and killed around 2,500 people. A 9.1-magnitude earthquake in 2004 struck off the coast of Sumatra and triggered a tsunami that killed 220,000 people across the region, including about 170,000 in Indonesia, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history.