Jakarta, August 15: A powerful earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale struck off the coast of Flores Island, Indonesia, on Saturday morning. This information was confirmed by the country’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).
According to reports from Xinhua News Agency, the earthquake’s epicenter was located 36 kilometers northeast of Mbe in the East Nusa Tenggara province, at a depth of 15 kilometers. Following the quake, BMKG issued a tsunami warning.
Local media reported that many areas experienced strong tremors, prompting frightened residents to flee to safer locations on the roads. There have been no immediate reports of casualties. After the initial tremor, several aftershocks were recorded in the same region, including one with a magnitude of 6.1.
BMKG warned that tsunami waves could be generated by the earthquake. The agency’s earthquake and tsunami director, Vijyanto, stated, “Tsunami modeling results indicate that this earthquake could trigger tsunamis in East Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi, and West Nusa Tenggara provinces.”
Indonesia is situated on the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’ and is home to over 120 active volcanoes, making it one of the most volcanically active countries in the world.
The nation has a history of devastating earthquakes, including the catastrophic 9.1 magnitude quake in 2004 off the coast of Sumatra, which triggered a tsunami that claimed the lives of 220,000 people across the region, with approximately 170,000 fatalities in Indonesia alone.
In 2018, a powerful earthquake struck Lombok Island, followed by numerous aftershocks in the weeks that followed. This disaster resulted in the deaths of over 550 people in Lombok and neighboring Sumbawa, both popular tourist destinations.
Later that same year, another major disaster struck Sulawesi, where a 7.5 magnitude earthquake led to a devastating tsunami in Palu. This calamity resulted in over 4,300 people being reported dead or missing.
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