NTT Lawmakers Describe Earthquake Aftermath: Residents Still Traumatised
East Nusa Tenggara was struck by an earthquake with a magnitude of 7, following an earlier magnitude 7.7 tremor. Several members of the House of Representatives from NTT have described the post-earthquake situation.
One of them, Andreas Hugo Pareira, a member of the Indonesian House of Representatives from the NTT electoral district, said the impact of the earthquake has left the community traumatised.
“The situation among communities on Flores Island is on average still traumatised by yesterday’s very large tremor, and until now, according to information from relatives and friends there, tremors are still occurring, albeit smaller ones,” he said when contacted on Sunday (16/8/2026).
“As a result, most residents remain on alert, worried about aftershocks,” he continued.
Andreas also noted that the number of fatalities and injuries continues to rise. “The number of deaths and serious and minor injuries keeps changing because of the wide area affected by this earthquake. However, today it appears to have begun to subside,” he added.
Andreas also confirmed that his party moved immediately to provide assistance upon hearing news of the major earthquake in NTT. “Yesterday from around 06.00 WIB in the morning, I received a call from the chairman of the PDI Perjuangan branch in Nagekeo in a state of panic, reporting the earthquake situation. After consulting with the party’s central board for disaster management, the party immediately instructed emergency response assistance for the community, so that public kitchens were set up in every regency. However, this is of course far from sufficient. Residents are also self-organising to help one another, and the regency and provincial governments have also quickly stepped in to provide assistance,” he said.
Another member of the Indonesian House of Representatives from the NTT electoral district, Benny K Harman, also described the situation in East Nusa Tenggara after the magnitude 7 earthquake. Benny said there are still people who have lost family members and have not yet been evacuated.
He began by expressing his condolences over the natural disaster in NTT. He said many people have died and many have lost their homes.
“I would like to express my condolences to the families who were victims of the Flores earthquake. There are many fatalities and many who have lost their homes,” Benny said when contacted separately.
Benny expressed his gratitude to President Prabowo Subianto for his rapid response to the natural disaster. He also thanked the people of Indonesia.
“We would like to thank President Prabowo for responding quickly to the victims of the Flores disaster, as well as all parties from across the country who have shown great concern for the people of Flores who are in mourning,” he said.
He also noted that aftershocks are still occurring in several places. Infrastructure access, he said, is also hampering mobilisation.
“Infrastructure access is also making it difficult to mobilise aid to several disaster points,” he said.
In addition, Benny said there are still people who have lost family members. “There are still those who have lost family members and have not yet been evacuated. Hopefully they will be handled quickly,” he added.
Previously, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) reported the number of victims in the earthquake disaster in East Nusa Tenggara. It was stated that 53 people died and 135 people were injured.
“In total, we have recorded 53 fatalities, with the breakdown as follows: West Manggarai Regency, one person; East Manggarai Regency, 20 people; Manggarai Regency, 25 people; Nagekeo, one person; Sikka, four people; Ende, two people,” said BNPB Deputy for Prevention Abdul Muhari in a press conference on Sunday (16/8).