5 dead after powerful 7.7 earthquake hits Indonesia's Flores island

A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake jolted the waters off Indonesia's Flores Island on Saturday morning, claiming the lives of at least five people. The main tremor struck at approximately 6 AM local time, about 68 kilometers northwest of Ende in the East Nusa Tenggara province. It was followed by a series of aftershocks, according to data from the US Geological Survey (USGS).

The USGS estimates that around 500,000 people experienced very strong or severe shaking, which caused buildings to crumble and startled residents awake, forcing them to flee their homes. Indonesia's national disaster mitigation agency, BNPB, reported that an initial tsunami warning was triggered following the quake but was subsequently lifted. The agency also noted that approximately 2,000 residents in the Nagekeo regency evacuated as a safety precaution.

Early assessments from BNPB indicate damage to about 15 buildings, including homes and government offices. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 49 kilometers, according to the National Centre for Seismology (NCS). This event follows another significant earthquake of magnitude 7.4 that hit Indonesia earlier on Saturday. Multiple subsequent tremors, including magnitudes 6.3 and 6.0, were recorded in the Flores Sea.

Indonesia, an archipelago of over 17,000 islands, is situated on the Pacific 'Ring of Fire,' a region known for frequent seismic and volcanic activity, making it particularly vulnerable to such natural disasters.