It’s every islander’s worst nightmare — waking up at dawn to find your entire house shaking like a trampoline.

Tragedy has struck eastern Indonesia again, and the numbers are climbing.

According to cbinews.tv, at least 47 people are now confirmed dead after a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake rocked waters just off Flores Island early on Saturday morning. Rescuers are still combing through collapsed buildings as we speak, desperately searching for survivors.

Here’s what we know so far:

The national disaster management agency, the BNPB, updated the death toll late on Saturday — up from 40 — with rescue official Fathur Rahman confirming another 50 people have been injured.

BNPB chief Suharyanto, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, said people are still trapped inside several buildings. “These will be the initial targets of the disaster response teams,” he said.

The damage is extensive. Nearly 160 houses, plus dozens of schools, clinics and other public buildings, have been damaged or flattened on the popular tourist island.

And it’s been a terrifying 24 hours for locals. One resident, 37-year-old university lecturer Yulian Juita Ekalia, who lives in Ruteng — more than 100km from the epicentre — told cbinews.tv: “I have never felt an earthquake this big. It felt like we were on a trampoline; it was really scary.”

She described rushing outside as TVs, trophies, dish racks and suitcases came crashing down around her. Many areas are still without power or phone signal, and landslides have cut off roads, making rescue efforts even harder.

In Nagekeo, near the epicentre, sheer panic set in when the sea suddenly retreated — a classic tsunami warning sign. Hundreds fled to higher ground. While the tsunami warning has now been lifted, waves of up to 1.6 metres were recorded, and the authorities are warning people to stay clear of damaged buildings as dozens of aftershocks — the largest a 6.1-magnitude — continue to rattle the island.

The response is now international. The Red Cross says it’s preparing aid for around 2,000 people in temporary shelters, the Indonesian government has sent 50,000 aid packages weighing 275 tonnes, and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen has offered satellite support, posting on X: “Europe stands ready to deploy Copernicus, our eyes in the sky, to support search and rescue efforts. Indonesia, we stand with you.”

Some important context:

Why Indonesia? The archipelago sits right on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” — that 40,000km horseshoe of intense seismic activity stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia. It’s home to about 75% of the world’s active volcanoes and experiences around 90% of the world’s earthquakes. So, sadly, quakes are frequent.

Flores itself knows this pain all too well. In December 1992, the island was hit by an almost identical 7.7-magnitude quake that triggered a devastating tsunami, killing around 2,500 people.

And of course, Indonesia will never forget 2004, when a colossal 9.1-magnitude quake off Sumatra triggered a tsunami that killed 220,000 people across the region, with around 170,000 deaths in Indonesia alone — one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history.

In a strange twist, just 12 hours after the Flores quake, a second deep 6.9-magnitude quake struck near Pematangsiantar on Sumatra island, thousands of kilometres away. No damage has been reported from that one so far.

Rescue teams say their priority tonight remains finding anyone buried under the rubble.

Our thoughts are with everyone in Flores.

Source: cbinews.tv

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