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Grocery stores, petrol pumps and other shops reopened in parts of Indonesia on Wednesday, four days after a powerful earthquake off Flores killed at least 70 people, injured nearly 1,200 and damaged thousands of homes. Search teams were still digging through rubble for possible victims, while more than 40,000 people remained in tents, evacuation centres and makeshift shelters.
The earthquake struck shortly before 6 am on Saturday near the remote island of Flores in East Nusa Tenggara province, causing widespread damage across the island. According to the National Disaster Management Agency and other officials, at least 11,925 homes, 182 health facilities, 653 schools, 184 government offices and 173 places of worship were damaged.
East Nusa Tenggara Governor Emanuel Melkiades Laka Lena said immediate food and water needs had been met, and local governments in seven regencies affected by the quake had resumed operations “to accelerate post-disaster recovery and serve the community’s administrative needs”.
The US Geological Survey said the earthquake struck at a depth of 10 kilometres. Residents fled in panic as tsunami warnings were issued and later lifted. Authorities recorded more than 2,100 aftershocks through Tuesday, though only 70 were felt by residents.
Thousands of people across the island spent the night outdoors because of fears of more aftershocks. Streets were still covered in debris as rescue workers cleared rubble and mud from a landslide while “anticipating the possibility of discovering more victims”, search mission coordinator Fathur Rahman said.
In Maumere, a port city in Sikka regency, markets and petrol pumps drew large crowds after reopening. In Reo, a town in badly hit Manggarai regency, residents queued outside a grocery store that had only partly reopened to limit the number of customers entering. “Food aid has helped, but it doesn’t cover everything we need for daily life,” said Delvina Panjaitan, who was waiting outside the store. “We still rely on grocery stores and markets, and we need them to be operating again.”
Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions because of its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire. Flores saw one of the country’s deadliest disasters in 1992, when an earthquake and the tsunami that followed killed about 2,500 people. The latest quake has left at least 70 dead, nearly 1,200 injured and tens of thousands displaced, even as normal activity slowly begins to return in some areas.
With PTI Inputs
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