A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Indonesia early Saturday morning. It killed at least two people and caused widespread panic across Flores Island. The shallow quake hit off the northern coast at 5:58 a.m. local time. It shook buildings violently, forcing thousands of residents to flee into the streets.
Disaster officials confirmed that a man and a woman died near the port in Maumere, where part of a port terminal building collapsed. In nearby towns, cracked walls caused hospital patients and workers to run outside, while shoppers evacuated busy morning markets. Shortly after the initial earthquake, several strong aftershocks measuring up to magnitude 6.1 rocked the region.
Immediately after the quake, Indonesia's meteorology agency issued a tsunami warning for local coastlines. Disaster management officials urged coastal communities to move at least two kilometers inland or seek shelter on hills higher than 10 meters. Panicked families quickly evacuated toward higher ground. The tsunami warning was later lifted after monitoring showed no dangerous rise in sea levels.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire." This arc of volcanoes and major fault lines has frequent earthquakes. Flores Island previously suffered a devastating magnitude 7.7 earthquake and tsunami in December 1992, which killed more than 2,500 people. Authorities are continuing to monitor the area and inspect damaged buildings.