Summary
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The US Geological Survey says a strong magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck early on Saturday
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Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) initially issued alerts of possible tsunami waves but declared the warning over
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People have been told to evacuate from several areas along the coast
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The epicentre of the shallow quake was located off the north coast of Flores island
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The area was rocked by several aftershocks
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‘Everyone panicked and ran’, villager tells BBCpublished at 01:58 BST
Arnold Welianto, who lives in Talibura village, Sikka, East Nusa Tenggara, tells the BBC that he was still asleep when he felt the “very strong shaking”.
“I was startled awake and immediately went to my child’s room,” he says.
He goes on: “Once we were outside, residents in our neighbourhood, which is located close to the shoreline, had already fled their homes and were heading toward the hills and crowding the roads, while some other residents were standing along the roadside because the sea had also receded.”
“The water remained low for quite some time, so everyone panicked and ran – I went around to the community health centre, and the people there had already been evacuated.”
Welianto says many residents are choosing to remain outdoors because of the earthquake, and ongoing aftershocks mean they are afraid to return home.
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Damage captured in first photos from Indonesia following earthquakepublished at 01:41 BST
Image source, AFP via Getty Images
Image source, AFP via Getty Images
Image source, AFP via Getty Images -
Indonesian authorities declare tsunami warning overpublished at 01:39 BST
The Indonesian agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics has just issued an updated alert saying that the tsunami warning “has been declared over”.
The statement says: “The Tsunami Early Warning caused by the Mag: 7.7 earthquake, location: 30 km Northeast of MBAY-NAGEKEO-NTT, time: 15-Aug-26 04:58:24 WIB, has been declared over, this is the latest information provided by the Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System.”
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Indonesia orders evacuations after magnitude 7.7 earthquake with ‘tsunami potential’published at 01:21 BST
Indonesian authorities have ordered people to evacuate after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the Flores region in East Nusa Tenggara shortly before 5am local time. The earthquake had a depth of 15km, and its epicentre was 30km from Nagekeo, East Nusa Tenggara.
“Tsunami modeling indicates that this earthquake HAS TSUNAMI POTENTIAL in the provinces of East Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi, and West Nusa Tenggara,” a statement from the Director of Earthquake and Tsunami at the Indonesian agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics.
It is currently just after 7am in Jakarta.
Original source: https://www.bbc.com/
