Rescuers combed through debris for survivors Saturday after a powerful earthquake struck off Flores island in eastern Indonesia, killing 20 people and sending thousands fleeing.
While a tsunami warning was lifted, authorities urged people not to return to damaged buildings for fear that aftershocks may bring them down. Rescue official Fathur Rahman told AFP at least 20 people were confirmed dead on the popular tourist island and six others reported injured.
Fathur said the focus has shifted to locating victims who may be buried under rubble, but rescue efforts have been complicated by landslides cutting off roads.
Long queues of people could be seen evacuating on foot, by motorbike and car, some piled into the back of pickup trucks, after the initial tsunami warning issued by Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency.
Outside a nearby hospital, she said she saw patients being treated under emergency tents. Indonesia experiences frequent earthquakes due to its location in the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an arc of intense seismic activity stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.
