A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck off eastern Indonesia on Saturday, killing at least 38 people and triggering dozens of aftershocks, officials said. Rescue teams in the port town of Maumere earlier recovered 20 bodies, while six people were injured and two others remained trapped beneath debris, according to Fathur Rahman, head of the local rescue agency.
Maumere, the main town of Sikka Regency, is located on Flores Island in eastern Indonesia.
2. Tsunami waves of less than 1 metre (3 feet) were reported in several parts of the Southeast Asian nation following the early-morning tremor. The tsunami warning was withdrawn about three hours after the earthquake.
3. He added that around 2,000 residents had evacuated their homes and moved to safer locations, according to Reuters.
4. Around 2,000 people were evacuated from Nagekeo following the earthquake, with several homes, warehouses and government buildings sustaining damage, the BNPB said. The agency also noted power cuts and traffic disruptions in parts of the regency.
5. East Nusa Tenggara Governor Emanuel Melkiades Laka Lena said at a press briefing that at least five people were killed after buildings collapsed while they were sleeping.
6. Video footage verified by Reuters and filmed at a port in Maumere showed part of a building suddenly crumbling into debris, as frightened people screamed and fled into the streets.
7. As per Reuters, Nona, a 51-year-old resident of Talibura village in East Nusa Tenggara, mentioned, “The earthquake was extremely powerful and the shaking was intense. We were at home with our family when it struck", adding that the 13 family members were inside the house at the time, and everyone rushed outside to escape the danger.
Yulian Juita Ekalia, a university lecturer living in Ruteng city more than 100 km (60 miles) west of the earthquake’s epicentre, said she had never experienced a tremor of such magnitude. Speaking to AFP by phone, the 37-year-old said the shaking felt as though she were “on a trampoline” and described the experience as frightening. She was jolted awake at around 5:30 am (2130 GMT on Friday).
8. Footage aired by Kompas TV showed a hospital in East Nusa Tenggara’s Ende district transferring patients outdoors after the quake. Kompas.com also reported that at least one landslide had occurred in the region.
9. The Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency recorded at least 52 aftershocks following the main quake, with magnitudes between 3.6 and 6.2, according to Bloomberg.
10. Indonesia lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, a highly active seismic belt where tectonic plates converge and interact, making the country prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity.
Garvit Bhirani is a journalist based in Gurugram. He is a Deputy Chief Content Producer at LiveMint, where he covers national and international news stories, focusing on accuracy and compelling storytelling for readers.
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With a total of six years of experience in journalism, he has previously worked with Vaco Binary Semantics for Google, taking on the role of news curation lead, and reported from the field on health, education, and agriculture stories for 101reporters and News9. He has also served as a content editor for entertainment and news media organisations.
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Garvit holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism and mass communication from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University and Gurugram University, respectively. During college days, he joined India’s only non-profit student journalism network, where he anchored daily news updates and produced his own weekly show called ‘Data Fix’.
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He was selected for the YES Foundation Media for Social Change Fellowship in Delhi, the Talking Data to the Fourth Pillar residential workshop, and the VOICE Fellowship in Pune.
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He holds certificates in COVID-19-verification reporting, data journalism, food & agriculture, tech policy, media literacy and countering misinformation, and tackling election disinformation courses from Thomson Foundation, IndiaSpend, The Dialogue, US Mission in India, and AFP.
<br><br> He can be reached on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/garvit-bhirani">LinkedIn</a> or on <a href="https://x.com/GarvitBhirani">@garvitbhirani</a> on X
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