Indonesia earthquake: Dramatic videos show buildings collapse as 7.7-magnitude earthquake kills 38
In this photo released by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS), rescuers inspect a damaged building following an earthquake in Maumere. (Photo: AP)At least 38 people were killed after a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia’s Flores Island on Saturday, collapsing buildings and triggering landslides. Videos from the disaster zone show walls and structures crumbling as terrified residents run into the streets.
The US Geological Survey said the quake struck at a depth of about 10 kilometres, with its epicentre 68 kilometres north-northwest of Ende in East Nusa Tenggara province.
Footage verified by news agency Reuters shows part of a building collapsing into dust and rubble at a port in Maumere, while people can be heard screaming and running in the street. https://t.co/77KNtlToHG pic.twitter.com/FK6pbAkAKo
— RT (@RT_com) August 14, 2026
One video shows a building collapsing into rubble as residents flee into the street. A resident of Nagekeo told Reuters that he was in a market when the ground began shaking and that his family, who were outside their home at the time, was safe.
Pacific tsunami alert panicked mass evacuations as vast 7.7 quake downs infrastructure pic.twitter.com/5tZctEVI64
— RT (@RT_com) August 15, 2026
A hospital worker said patients ran out of the building as the shaking intensified, and that he saw cracks appear in the walls around him. A resident of Sikka, a nearby regency, said several buildings were damaged, including the collapse of a waiting hall at the port terminal in Maumere.
Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency warned of possible tsunami waves soon after the quake and urged coastal residents to move to higher ground. A disaster agency official, Abdul Muhari, said people should move at least two kilometres inland or head to raised ground more than 10 metres high. The warning was withdrawn a few hours later.
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The main quake was followed by multiple aftershocks, complicating rescue operations in some areas.
A powerful 7.7-magnitude undersea earthquake struck off the northern coast of Indonesia’s Flores Island, triggering tsunami warnings across several coastal provinces. Indonesian meteorological agencies urged residents in impacted areas to evacuate immediately to higher ground and… pic.twitter.com/lcbLMBfpfy
— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) August 15, 2026
The earthquake revived memories of the devastating 1992 Flores earthquake and tsunami, which killed or left missing more than 2,000 people. USGS records the 1992 quake at magnitude 7.8, while UNESCO lists it as 7.7.
Why is Indonesia so prone to earthquakes?
Indonesia sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, a highly active seismic zone where tectonic plates interact, making the country particularly vulnerable to earthquakes and tsunamis.
The country has a long history of major quakes, including a magnitude 9.1 earthquake off Sumatra in 2004 that triggered a tsunami killing around 220,000 people across the region, with about 170,000 deaths in Indonesia alone. In 2018, a series of quakes on Lombok Island killed more than 550 people on Lombok and the nearby island of Sumbawa.
