Flores Earthquake; 346 Houses Damaged, 770 People Evacuated

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) recorded as of 22:15 WIB Tuesday that 346 houses were damaged and 770 residents were evacuated following the 7.4 magnitude earthquake in East Flores of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), Tuesday morning, December 14.

The agency’s spokesperson Abdul Muhari in his written statement, as quoted from Antara, said of the 346 damaged houses, 134 were seriously damaged and 212 were lightly damaged.

Other than residential areas, the quake destroyed three school buildings, two places of worship, a village head office, and a port. Most damaged buildings were reported in Selayar Islands Regency, South Sulawesi.

A total of 770 evacuees were reported by the Sikka Regency Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD). In detail, 320 people took refuge in the Sikka Regency Legislative Council (DPRD) Office, 150 people in the SIC Building, and 330 others stayed in the hall of the Sikka Regent's house.

As for the death toll, BNPB said there were no records of casualties from the earthquake to date. However, seven people were injured; six residents of Selayar Regency and one resident of Manggarai Regency, NTT.

The powerful quake triggered a tsunami and forced the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) to issue a tsunami early warning for nine regencies in NTT, three regencies/cities in South Sulawesi, and six regencies in Southeast Sulawesi.

As of Tuesday night, BMKG recorded 120 aftershocks and some of them measuring above 5 magnitudes, viz. 5.6 M at 10:41 WIB, 5.5 M at 10:47 WIB, 5.0 M at 12:46 WIB, 5.4 M at 15:31 WIB, and 5.2 M at 15:57 WIB.

BNPB further appealed to the public, especially in affected areas, not to panic and stay vigilant.

Read: Flores Earthquake: PLN Finishes Repairing 194 Damaged Power Substations

ANTARA