Indonesia earthquake death toll rises to 47 on Flores

The death toll from a 7.7-magnitude earthquake off Indonesia's eastern Flores island rose to at least 47 on Saturday, Indonesia's national disaster management agency said, as rescuers searched debris for survivors.

Rescue official Fathur Rahman said 50 people were injured. Suharyanto, who leads the national disaster management agency, said earlier that people were trapped in several buildings and that those sites would be the first targets for disaster response teams.

BNPB reported that nearly 160 houses, dozens of educational and health facilities and other public buildings were damaged. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said preparations were underway to bring aid to about 2,000 people in temporary shelters. The Indonesian government sent 50,000 aid packages, weighing a total of 275 tonnes, to the area.

Fathur said rescue work was being complicated by landslides that had cut off roads. Many people on Flores were left without electricity and telecommunications.

Residents in Nagekeo, near the epicentre, moved to higher ground after the sea retreated early Saturday. Indonesia's tsunami warning was later lifted, but authorities told people not to return to damaged buildings because aftershocks could bring them down.

Indonesia's BMKG geological agency said waves of up to 1.6 metres were reported in some coastal areas of Flores. Dozens of aftershocks shook the island, with the strongest measured at magnitude 6.1.

US and Indonesian authorities placed the epicentre of the shallow quake just off the island's north coast. A second, deep onland quake measured at magnitude 6.9 struck near Pematangsiantar on Sumatra island about 12 hours later. There were no initial reports of damage or casualties from that quake, and no tsunami alert was issued.

Indonesia experiences frequent earthquakes because it lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of intense seismic activity. Flores was struck by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake in 1992 that triggered a tsunami and caused about 2,500 deaths.