51 KILLED, AROUND 5,000 EVACUATED AFTER EARTHQUAKE

SIKKA, AUGUST 16 /SRNA-Reuters/ – Around 5,000 people have been evacuated after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck an area in eastern Indonesia, killing at least 51 people and leaving roads blocked, authorities said.

Thirty-six people were seriously injured in yesterday’s earthquake in East Nusa Tenggara province, while 77 others suffered minor injuries.

The earthquake, which was followed by 341 aftershocks, is the deadliest to hit the Southeast Asian country since a 2022 earthquake that killed hundreds of people in West Java.

The emergency management agency said more than 3,300 people had been evacuated in the Sikka region.

Some residents of Sikka remained outside their destroyed homes under makeshift tents, while others moved to tents set up outside a hospital in the port city of Maumere.

More than 3,500 military and police personnel have been deployed to the region, while rescuers have reached parts of Maumere that had been cut off by landslides.

It is not known how many people are missing, but officials said some people remain trapped under the rubble. More than 1,300 buildings have been damaged.