7.7-magnitude earthquake hits off northern coast of Flores region – One America News Network

OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
5:31 PM – Friday, August 14, 2026

A massive magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off the northern coast of Indonesia’s Flores region in the early hours of Saturday morning local time, or Friday evening depending on the location, sending shockwaves through East Nusa Tenggara province and triggering tsunami warnings across nearby coastal areas.

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the shallow, powerful undersea quake occurred around 5:58 a.m. local time at a depth of roughly 10 kilometers (6.2 miles).

The epicenter was positioned approximately 68 kilometers (42 miles) north-northwest of the city of Ende and roughly 38 kilometers northeast of Mbay, placing surrounding islands directly in the path of major ground shaking.

The violent “mainshock” was almost immediately followed by a cluster of strong aftershocks, including significant tremors measuring 5.6, 5.9, and 6.1 in magnitude, which further rattled local populations already fleeing into the streets, according to surfacing reports.

In response to the shallow offshore rupture, Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) promptly issued a high-level tsunami warning for vulnerable coastlines in East Nusa Tenggara.

Local authorities urged residents along riverbanks and lower-lying beach zones to evacuate immediately to higher ground while officials monitored coastal tide gauges for sudden variations in water levels. Meanwhile, neighboring agencies such as Australia’s Joint Tsunami Warning Centre confirmed that the event posed no tsunami threat to the Australian mainland or its surrounding territories.

While government officials and emergency response teams are still scrambling to gather accurate assessments from remote island communities, initial USGS emergency models estimate that around half a million people experienced very strong to severe shaking capable of causing notable damage to regional infrastructure.

Unconfirmed local reports and unverified videos circulating on social media showed moderate structural damage and collapsed walls in parts of Flores, though the full extent of casualties and physical destruction remains unclear as communications are evaluated.

Indonesia’s vast archipelago of more than 17,000 islands is particularly vulnerable to intense geological activity because it rests along the volatile Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of oceanic trenches and fault lines notorious for generating the world’s most severe seismic events.

Emergency workers and disaster management authorities remain on high alert across the region as monitoring continues for more dangerous aftershocks and potential water fluctuations.