A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Indonesia early on Saturday morning, triggering a formal tsunami warning and prompting widespread evacuations. According to the US Geological Survey, the shallow tremor occurred at 5:58 am local time with a depth of 10km. The epicenter was located 68km (42 miles) north-northwest of Ende in the East Nusa Tenggara province.
The initial jolt was followed by two aftershocks, including one measuring 6.1 in magnitude. Witnessing the impact, 31-year-old hospital customer service official Lukas Lotar described the scene to AFP, noting that the intense shaking caused him to panic. He reported that patients fled the hospital and observed cracks appearing in several walls. In the town of Maumere on Flores Island, residents were seen evacuating toward higher ground, while reports indicated that the sea had begun to recede—a phenomenon frequently associated with the approach of a tsunami.
Indonesia’s meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency, BMKG, issued an official tsunami warning, urging the public to remain clear of riverbanks and beaches. Wijayanto, the agency’s earthquake and tsunami director, stated that modeling indicates the potential for tsunami generation across the provinces of East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, and South Sulawesi. Authorities issued an alert for waves projected to range between 0.5 metres and three metres, or 1.6 to 9.8 feet. While no casualties have been confirmed, officials reported detecting tsunami waves between 19 and 30 centimetres.
Indonesia, an archipelago comprised of more than 17,000 islands, is situated on the Pacific Basin's “Ring of Fire,” an area characterized by frequent volcanic activity and fault lines. Meanwhile, Australia’s tsunami warning centre has confirmed that the undersea earthquake poses no threat to Australian territories, islands, or the mainland.
