Magnitude 7.7 earthquake strikes off Indonesia, tsunami warning issued


The moment of a building collapse at Maumere port following an earthquake of magnitude 7.7, in Maumere, Flores Island, Indonesia August 15, 2026 in this still image obtained from social media video. Social Media/via REUTERS

JAKARTA, Aug 15 (Reuters) - ⁠An earthquake of magnitude 7.7 and several aftershocks ⁠struck off the coast of eastern Indonesia early ‌on Saturday, the nation's geophysics agency BMKG said, while tsunami waves of less than 1 metre (3 feet) were recorded in several ​areas.

Many rushed from their homes, but ⁠there were no initial ⁠reports of damage from the quake, which was felt ⁠strongly ‌for around one minute in regions such as Nagekeo and Bima, said Dodi Yuleova, ⁠the spokesperson for the national disaster mitigation ​agency.

A video on ‌Facebook, verified by Reuters as located at a ⁠port in ​Maumere, the main town in Sikka Regency on Flores Island in eastern Indonesia, showed parts of a building ⁠collapsing in dust and rubble as ​people screamed and ran in the street.

A hospital in the district of Ende in East Nusa Tenggara Province was ⁠moving patients outside, Kompas TV footage showed.

BMKG recorded the first quake at 4:58 a.m. (2158 GMT) at a depth of 15 km(9 miles), followed by several aftershocks.

Australia's ​tsunami warning centre said the ⁠undersea earthquake will have "no tsunami threat to the Australian ​mainland, islands or territories".

(Reporting by Carlos ‌Méndez and Mrinmay Dey in ​Mexico City, Dewi Kurniawati in Jakarta; Editing by Mark Porter, Lisa Shumaker and William Mallard)

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