At least 20 dead after powerful earthquake strikes Indonesia

A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia early Saturday, collapsing buildings and homes, killing at least five people and causing panic in a region prone to deadly quakes.

Authorities issued a tsunami warning and urged coastal residents to move to higher ground, but later lifted the warning when Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency said monitoring showed no significant sea-level changes that would pose a threat to coastal communities.

The U.S Geological Survey said the quake hit Indonesia’s Flores region at 5:58 a.m. local time. Its epicenter was 42 miles north-northwest of the city of Ende in East Nusa Tenggara province. The initial quake was followed by several aftershocks.

East Nusa Tenggara police chief Rudi Darmoko said preliminary reports indicate two fatalities in Sikka Regency and three in Manggarai Regency as the earthquake caused severe damage and collapsed buildings. He said power outages in cities and villages have hampered the flow of information and complicated search and rescue efforts.

“We are continuing to collect reports of damages and casualties, but there are communication disruptions,” Darmoko said.

Footage on local television showed patients at several hospitals being evacuated from buildings as a precaution following the quake. Hospital staff moved equipment outdoors, including beds, IV stands and oxygen cylinders, and set up temporary treatment areas to adapt to emergency conditions.

Yohanna Embu, a resident of Sikka regency, said a number of buildings were damaged by the strong shaking and panicked people ran to higher ground.

“Many buildings here were damaged … I saw that the waiting room at the port terminal in Maumere had collapsed,” she said.

Students at St. Peter Major Seminary in Sikka who were attending morning Mass fled in panic when the roof of an assembly hall collapsed, said the Rev. Guidelbertus Tanga, rector of the seminary, which is known locally as Ritapiret Seminary on the predominantly Catholic island of Flores.

“Our students and nuns ran out in panic beneath a collapsing roof,” Tanga said. “At least one priest suffered a broken leg after jumping from the second floor of a building during the quake.”

The quake also reportedly caused panic in Bima, a city in neighboring West Nusa Tenggara province. There were also damages reported in some part of southern Sulawesi island.