Ngada Residents Traumatised After Seeing Sea Suddenly Recede During M 7.7 Earthquake
A number of women in Tadho Village, Riung District, Ngada Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, are still traumatised by the 7.7 magnitude earthquake. The trauma has left them afraid to carry out activities inside their homes.
One resident, Fatimah Indak (51), said that during the incident the earthquake tremors were felt very strongly, accompanied by the sea water immediately receding. However, not long after, the sea water rose quite high, became choppy and was accompanied by a sound like heavy rain.
“It was like water boiling from below,” said Fatimah when met at a tarpaulin tent at the Tadho 01 village post on Wednesday (19/8/2026).
This caused Fatimah and her family to immediately flee to safety on a hill. There, they saw the sea water had already entered the rice fields, but a moment later it receded completely.
“All the rocks were visible. We rested there before returning home to pack clothes and then ran back to the mountain,” said Fatimah.
“Until now we are still very traumatised. We saw the sea water moving as if it were spinning,” continued the woman wearing a blue headscarf.
In addition to the trauma, Fatimah also lost her house, which was destroyed by the earthquake tremors. The house is now uninhabitable. Since the incident, Fatimah and a number of other residents have remained afraid to return home.
At the time of the incident, Fatimah and her family were fast asleep. When she felt the tremors, Fatimah tried to escape. However, she was struck by a beam from her house.
Fortunately, she survived and suffered no serious injuries. Fatimah then tried to escape while carrying her two-month-old nephew. In the midst of this, she almost could not get out of the house because it was very dark due to a power outage.
They were even almost trapped because they could not see the door to get out. Fortunately, they managed to get out and escape. Once outside, they saw the sea water rising. This made them immediately flee to the mountain.
“Alhamdulillah, we are all safe. Our important documents are also safe,” said Fatimah.
Fatimah does not know exactly how many residents have been displaced in Tadho Village. However, at present, they are in great need of food, drinks, clothing, mattresses, blankets, bath soap, proper tents, and other necessities.
“Because our clothes are also buried. We need proper tents and clean water too because our current situation is like being in the forest,” said Fatimah.
Another resident, Yuliana Ngguwing (50), felt the same way. She admitted to being very panicked and still traumatised. In addition, at the time of the incident, Yuliana’s husband was preparing to go to Danga Market with his goods to sell.
“In the end my husband cancelled going to the market because of the earthquake. So at that time, we were already awake and I immediately jumped and ran outside,” said Yuliana.
Despite frequent aftershocks, Yuliana still goes back and forth to her house to feed her livestock. “I still go back and forth home because I want to feed the livestock,” concluded Yuliana.
For information, Tadho Village is one of the villages located on the north coast. This village also connects Sikka, Nagekeo, Ende, East Manggarai, and West Manggarai regencies. The village is also only about 50-100 metres from the shoreline.