The island is home to a number of popular tourist destinations, with the undersea earthquake hitting near the city of Maumere.<\/p>\n
It was followed by several aftershocks \u2014 measuring up to a 6.2 magnitude \u2014 across the coastline in the hours after the initial quake.<\/p>\n
Footage geolocated by 7NEWS.com.au shows people running for their lives as huge chunks of debris fell off a building at Lorens Say Port in Maumere.<\/p>\n
Two confirmed dead in quake<\/p>\n
The falling debris killed two people and struck hundreds of others waiting to board a passenger ship, Maumere Search and Rescue (SAR) Chief Fathur Rahman said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne person died at the hospital after being evacuated and the other was found dead amidst the building\u2019s rubble,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
The country\u2019s Disaster Countermeasure Agency confirmed the first known victims of the disaster were a man and a woman.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce the data are confirmed, we will officially announce the final number of casualties and the extent of damage to buildings caused by the earthquake,\u201d agency spokesman Berton Suar Pelita Panjaitan told reporters.<\/p>\n
That total is expected to rise as the US Geological Survey suggests about 500,000 people were exposed to very strong or severe shaking, which is capable of slight to moderate damage in well-built structures and great damage in poorly built structures.<\/p>\n
Other images and videos shared to social media, which are yet to be verified, also show several buildings across the region had been damaged in the earthquake.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/054725fdb485cfda0c547133f82e2a0cb6367827.png\")
A 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia\u2019s Flores island early Saturday, triggering a tsunami warning. Credit: CSEMTsunami warning issued<\/p>\n
Indonesia\u2019s geophysics agency BMKG issued a tsunami warning for some regions of the country.<\/p>\n
Locals in coastal towns across the East Nusa Tenggara and South Sulawesi regions were urged to \u201cimmediately guide their communities for evacuation\u201d.<\/p>\n
The country\u2019s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency confirmed a \u201ctsunami was generated\u201d but has since passed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe expected period of significant tsunami waves is now over,\u201d the agency said.<\/p>\n
However, it also warned that \u201cdangerous currents can continue for several hours after the main tsunami waves have passed\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u2060Australia\u2019s tsunami warning centre said the quake will have \u201cno \u200btsunami \u2060threat to the Australian mainland, islands or territories\u201d.<\/p>\n
Latest earthquake to rock the nation<\/p>\n
Indonesia has seen several devastating earthquakes in the past. The country sits on the Ring of Fire, a band around the Pacific Ocean that sets off frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity. <\/p>\n
The ring is one of the most seismically active areas in the world, spanning from Japan and Indonesia on one side of the Pacific to California and South America on the other.<\/p>\n
The catastrophic Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 was sparked when Indonesia\u2019s Sumatra island was hit by a quake with a magnitude of 9.1. <\/p>\n
The resulting disaster killed more than 220,000 people along the ocean\u2019s coasts, more than half of them in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
More recently, hundreds were killed when a 6.9 earthquake hit the island of\u00a0Lombok\u00a0in August of 2018. Later that month a trio of intense earthquakes shook several islands in the South Pacific and Indonesia.<\/p>\n
More to come …<\/p>\n
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