A magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck the Mbay area of Nagekeo\nRegency, East Nusa Tenggara, on Saturday morning (15\/8) has caused\nwidespread damage across several parts of Flores. As of 15.00 WITA, at\nleast 33 people have been reported dead in the Manggarai Raya region,\ncomprising East Manggarai, Manggarai and West Manggarai Regencies.<\/p>\n
According to provisional data compiled from the Manggarai Regency\nRegional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) and reports from the East\nManggarai Police, the death toll in East Manggarai has reached 17\npeople. In Manggarai Regency, 15 people have been recorded dead, while\none person has been reported dead in West Manggarai Regency.<\/p>\n
The Manggarai Regency BPBD stated that these figures remain\nprovisional. Officers are still conducting direct checks at a number of\naffected locations to confirm the number of casualties and the extent of\nbuilding damage.<\/p>\n
\u201cProvisional data is still being checked in the field. Officers are\nstill going down to a number of locations to confirm the number of\ncasualties and damage caused by the earthquake,\u201d the Manggarai Regency\nBPBD said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the East Manggarai Police reported that the death toll in\nits area has reached 17 people. Police and a joint team are still\nconducting sweeps and data collection at the worst-affected\nlocations.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor provisional casualty data in East Manggarai, there are 17 people\ndead. However, officers are still conducting checks and data collection\nin the field, so this number could still change,\u201d the East Manggarai\nPolice said.<\/p>\n
Thus, the provisional total of deaths in Manggarai Raya has reached\n33 people. This number is likely to continue rising because the search,\nevacuation and verification process is still ongoing.<\/p>\n
The impact of the earthquake is also visible in the damage to\nresidents\u2019 homes and public facilities. Data from the National Disaster\nManagement Agency (BNPB) as of 12.30 WIB previously recorded 54 heavily\ndamaged houses, nine moderately damaged houses and 11 lightly damaged\nhouses. In Manggarai Regency, 29 houses were recorded as heavily\ndamaged, nine moderately damaged and nine lightly damaged. In East\nManggarai, at least 23 houses were heavily damaged. These figures may\nalso change as data collection in the field continues.<\/p>\n
Fatalities have also been reported from other regencies in East Nusa\nTenggara. BNPB data in the 12.30 WIB update previously recorded three\ndeaths in Sikka Regency, in addition to six people in Manggarai and five\npeople in East Manggarai. However, this data has since developed along\nwith reports from the regions and the ongoing verification process.<\/p>\n
In West Manggarai, one person has been reported dead. The strong\ntremors also caused damage to a number of buildings in Labuan Bajo.\nResidents, tourists and hospital patients were evacuated to open areas\nto avoid the risk of buildings collapsing.<\/p>\n
The main earthquake struck Flores on Saturday morning and briefly\ntriggered a tsunami early warning. The Meteorology, Climatology and\nGeophysics Agency (BMKG) later ended the warning at 07.30 WIB after\nmonitoring results showed no dangerous conditions. The public is still\nurged to remain alert to the possibility of aftershocks and not to enter\ndamaged buildings.<\/p>\n
As of 15.00 WITA, joint officers are still conducting checks from one\nlocation to another. Because the evacuation and data collection process\nis not yet complete, the figure of 33 deaths in Manggarai Raya remains\nprovisional and is likely to continue rising.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/m7-7-mbay-earthquake-kills-33-in-manggarai-raya-death-toll-expected-to-rise-1786783842", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }