Jakarta (VNA) - Indonesia is stepping up search and rescue operations and providing assistance to residents following a 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck offshore near Flores Island in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province on the morning of August 15, the Indonesian news agency Antara reported.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto instructed central and local agencies to swiftly respond to the disaster. The Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs, the Minister of Home Affairs, the Minister of Public Works, and leaders of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) and the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) have travelled to affected areas.
The Government has also mobilised forces and state-owned enterprises in the healthcare, electricity, energy, telecommunications and food sectors to assist with relief efforts.
More than 50,000 food relief packages, along with food supplies, drinking water, clean water, emergency shelters, generators and other essential supplies, have been sent to Maumere on Flores Island for distribution to affected residents.
In the coming days, the Ministry of Social Affairs is expected to continue transporting relief supplies from nearby areas that suffered less damage. Part of the emergency stockpile in East Flores, originally prepared for possible eruptions of Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki, is also being used for earthquake relief.
According to Basarnas, as of August 16 noon, the earthquake had killed 51 people and injured 64 others.
Manggarai and East Manggarai districts were among the hardest-hit areas. Landslides have blocked several roads, while infrastructure and telecommunications networks have also been damaged, hampering rescue and relief operations.
According to the Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG), the earthquake struck at 4:58. Its epicentre was about 30km northeast of Mbay, the capital of Nagekeo district, at a depth of 15km. The strong tremors prompted the BMKG to issue a tsunami warning. The agency recorded sea-level rises of 36cm in Labuan Bajo and 94cm in Maurole, Ende district, before the warning was lifted. It also reported 111 aftershocks, including several with magnitudes above 6, indicating that seismic activity is still ongoing.
On the same day, Indonesia was hit by a second earthquake, with a magnitude of 6.9 and an epicentre in Pematangsiantar, about 126km southeast of Medan, the capital of North Sumatra. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 183km and did not trigger a tsunami warning.
Authorities urged residents to continue following authorities' instructions, stay away from areas at risk of landslides, monitor information on aftershocks, and check the structural safety of buildings before returning home./.
Vietnamese leaders send condolences over deadly earthquake in Indonesia
General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President To Lam and Prime Minister Le Minh Hung on August 15 sent messages of condolences to Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto following a powerful earthquake in Indonesia that caused heavy casualties and affected thousands of families.
