A massive earthquake of magnitude 7.7, followed by a series of aftershocks, struck off the coast of eastern Indonesia early Saturday morning, according to the Asian country’s geophysics agency, BMKG, and the US Geological Survey (USGS). The powerful mega-quake hit around 6 am local time, about 68 kilometres northwest of Ende in East Nusa Tenggara province.
Indonesia’s geophysics agency initially issued a tsunami warning, which was ultimately lifted, the Associated Press reported. Meanwhile, USGS said the earthquake struck the nation‘s Flores region with a depth of 10 kilometres at 5:58 am local time. Although official data has yet to reveal the extent of fatalities in the quake’s aftermath, preliminary reports from the Maumere Search and Rescue Agency said that at least two people were killed and two others injured in the face of the devastating impact of the natural disaster.
Visuals capture heavy damage in Indonesia after earthquake
Shocking visuals of collapsed buildings and full-fledged evacuations have since surfaced on social media and international media platforms. Among a series of images published by Reuters, one captured residents in action as they rushed out of a damaged building at Jayakarta Hotel. Another showed rescuers inspecting a badly damaged building at L. Say port in Sikka. A third captured panic-stricken villagers gathered outside their homes in Talibura.
🔴🇮🇩 #URGENTE | TERREMOTO DE 7,7 GOLPEA INDONESIA: COLAPSO MORTAL EN EL PUERTO DE MAUMERE
Un potente terremoto de magnitud 7,7 sacudió la madrugada del sábado 15 de agosto la isla de Flores, en el este de Indonesia, provocando graves daños y escenas de pánico.
📍 Lugar del… pic.twitter.com/NCj0uqpjjt— Global News (@LaVozGlobal) August 15, 2026
Other visuals shared by Reuters even shed light on the exact moment a building collapsed at Maumere port as tragedy struck Flores Island.
As initial reports indicated heavy damage in areas across Flores Island, a resident of Sikka, a regency within East Nusa Tenggara province, said, “Many buildings here were damaged … I saw that the waiting room at the port terminal in Maumere had collapsed,” as quoted by the Associated Press.
Local TV footage further showed patients at various hospitals being evacuated from buildings as a precautionary move after the quake. As reported by the Associated Press, hospital officials shifted crucial equipment, including beds, IV stands and oxygen cylinders, outside, while setting up temporary areas for treatment, as the conditions demanded at the time.
AP also reported that a wave of panic swept over students attending morning Mass at St Peter Major Seminary in Sikka as an assembly hall roof caved in following the quake.
Rev. Guidelbertus Tanga said that the students and nuns at the school rushed out in panic “beneath a collapsing roof,” according to AP, adding that at least one priest suffered a broken left leg after jumping from a building’s second floor amid the natural disaster.