world · 2026-08-15
Flores Quake Toll Hits 38, Still Rising
Photo: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC / Wikimedia (Public domain)
Indonesia's death toll from the Flores quake is a floor, not a final count, because rescuers still hadn't reached Nagekeo, the area closest to the epicenter, when it was reported.
How many people are still missing or evacuated on Flores?
About 2,000 people in Nagekeo regency fled to temporary shelters, the closest area to the epicenter. Two villagers remain missing, believed buried under a landslide near Reok in Manggarai, according to Fathur Rahman, head of the Maumere Search and Rescue Agency. Rescue teams had not yet reached Nagekeo itself, where roads were blocked by landslides.
Why hadn't rescuers reached Nagekeo yet?
Landslides blocked road access into Nagekeo, and communications signals there were affected, cutting the area off from reports on damage or casualties. A rescue team tried reaching it by ferry instead. Power cuts across cities and villages further disrupted the flow of information, according to East Nusa Tenggara's police chief, Rudi Darmoko.
What triggered the two missing-persons cases?
A landslide in the village of Reok in Manggarai, set off by the quake, buried people under tons of mud that tumbled from surrounding hills. Eight bodies were already recovered from that same landslide, and six injured people were hospitalized, while rescuers kept digging for the two still unaccounted for.
Could the 52 aftershocks still bring down more buildings?
Yes. The strongest aftershock recorded so far reached magnitude 6.2, strong enough on its own to damage or collapse structures already weakened by the initial 7.7 quake. With 52 aftershocks logged and more likely, buildings left standing but cracked face repeated shaking that can push them past their breaking point even without a bigger quake.
Why would a magnitude 6.2 aftershock matter after a 7.7 quake?
A magnitude 6.2 shock is powerful in its own right, roughly in the range that on its own has caused fatal building collapses elsewhere. After a 7.7 mainshock, structures may already have cracked foundations or weakened walls, so a 6.2 aftershock hits damage that never had a chance to be repaired or reinforced, raising the odds of full collapse rather than just added cracks.
Why does Indonesia see so many aftershocks and quakes generally?
Indonesia sits across the Pacific 'ring of fire,' where several tectonic plates meet and grind against each other. Historical records show the country has had more than 150 earthquakes above magnitude 7 between 1901 and 2019, roughly one magnitude-7 quake every year on average, which is why clusters of aftershocks like this one are routine rather than exceptional.
Why did this quake spare people the tsunami danger?
It didn't spare people entirely: a tsunami warning was issued for coastal areas near the epicenter and some residents were told to evacuate. The threat passed and the warning was lifted before waves materialized, so this quake avoided becoming a repeat of Indonesia's past tsunami disasters rather than never posing that risk.
How do other Indonesian quakes show tsunamis aren't guaranteed?
The 2005 Nias-Simeulue quake, magnitude 8.6 and struck near the same fault as the 2004 disaster, triggered only small waves up to 3 metres despite fears of a repeat. By contrast, a 2006 quake near Yogyakarta needed no tsunami at all to cause over 5,700 deaths, since shaking and soil liquefaction near Mount Merapi caused the damage directly.
Why do some low-shaking quakes trigger deadly tsunamis anyway?
A 2006 magnitude 7.7 quake off Java caused no direct damage from shaking but triggered a tsunami that killed over 800 people, because the moderate shocks gave almost no warning before waves hit, and coastal residents were never alerted. It shows the danger comes from how a quake displaces the seafloor, not from how strongly the ground shakes on land.
Source: thehindubusinessline.com