Rescuers search for survivors of powerful Indonesia earthquake

Rescue teams in Indonesia have been searching for survivors of Saturday’s major earthquake which left at least 47 people dead.

The magnitude 7.7 quake struck the island of Flores shortly before 05:00 (22:00 GMT on Friday) and had a depth of 15km, Indonesia’s meteorology and geophysics agency stated.

Preliminary reports indicate hundreds of buildings have been severely damaged by the quake and the dozens of aftershocks that followed.

However, the full scale of the disaster is still unclear, and news of a second earthquake of magnitude 6.9 at the other end of Indonesia served as a reminder of why they call this region the ring of fire.

Tremors from Saturday’s powerful earthquake were reportedly felt by residents as far west as Bima Regency and City, the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) agency said, but the Manggarai province is among the most affected.

Preliminary data shows that 24 fatalities had been recorded there, meanwhile 17 deaths were recorded in East Manggarai province, three in Sikka province, and at least one in each of the Ngada, Ende and West Manggarai provinces.

At least two others had been seriously injured and 11 slightly injured.

The BNPB said aid was being sent to the affected areas with 10,500 packages arriving at the base operations so far.

It will take time to assess the full extent of the destruction in the region, which is remote and mountainous.