{"id":6964,"date":"2026-08-16T00:48:51","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T07:48:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/news\/7811161\/rescuers-dig-through-rubble-and-landslides-after-indonesia-quake-kills-51\/"},"modified":"2026-08-16T08:00:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T15:00:04","slug":"rescuers-in-indonesia-recover-6-more-bodies-in-earthquake-aftermath-raising-death-toll-to-53","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/news\/6964\/rescuers-in-indonesia-recover-6-more-bodies-in-earthquake-aftermath-raising-death-toll-to-53\/","title":{"rendered":"Rescuers in Indonesia recover 6 more bodies in earthquake aftermath, raising death toll to 53"},"content":{"rendered":"

RUTENG, Indonesia (AP) \u2014 Rescue teams in eastern Indonesia<\/a> recovered six more bodies Sunday, a day after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake<\/a>, raising the death toll to 53, authorities said, as thousands of displaced people spent the night outdoors in fear of aftershocks.<\/p>\n

Rescuers dug through debris looking for anyone buried beneath landslides triggered by the quake across six regencies on Flores, a predominantly Catholic island<\/a> in the Muslim-majority country. They focused on three regencies that remained inaccessible: hardest-hit Manggarai, East Manggarai and Nagekeo.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have cleared most landslides and reopened roads to previously isolated villages, although communication disruptions and power outages continue to hamper search efforts,\u201d said Fathur Rahman, head of the search-and-rescue office in Maumere, the capital of Sikka regency.<\/p>\n

The agency said more than 900 homes were destroyed and 450 more damaged in East Nusa Tenggara province, forcing about 5,000 people into temporary shelters. At least 241 homes were damaged in the Flores region alone, Muhari said.<\/p>\n

The quake occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles) shortly before 6 a.m. Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Residents fled in panic as tsunami warnings were issued and later lifted.<\/p>\n

Authorities have since recorded at least 995 aftershocks, but only 46 were felt by residents, said Abdul Muhari, the National Disaster Management Agency\u2019s chief for disaster prevention, adding that 135 people were injured.<\/p>\n

Many residents at Labuan Bajo, the gateway to Komodo National Park<\/a>, one of Indonesia\u2019s best-known tourist destinations, spent the night outside because of the aftershocks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe shaking was terrifying, so intense that my house nearly collapsed,\u201d said Anastasia Imad, a farmer, speaking from a makeshift green tent beside her damaged home. \u201cWe feared the aftershocks would bring it down on us while we slept.\u201d<\/p>\n

Landslides blocked sections of the Trans-Flores Highway, a roughly 700-kilometer (435-mile) road linking communities across the mountainous island.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, relief workers distributed rice, ready-to-eat meals, drinking water, blankets and medicine, while emergency shelters were set up for displaced residents. Authorities said restoring electricity and communications, as well as delivering aid to remote villages isolated by landslides, were among the biggest challenges.<\/p>\n

Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, is prone to earthquakes<\/a> and volcanic eruptions because of its location on the Pacific \u201cRing of Fire,\u201d a horseshoe-shaped arc of seismic faults and volcanoes.<\/p>\n

Flores has experienced some of the country\u2019s deadliest disasters. A powerful earthquake and tsunami in 1992 killed about 2,500 people on the island.<\/p>\n

In 2018, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake triggered a tsunami on the island of Sulawesi<\/a> that killed more than 4,400 people. In 2004, a magnitude 9.1 quake off Sumatra unleashed a tsunami that killed about 230,000 people<\/a> in a dozen countries.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press writers Niniek Karmini and Edna Tarigan in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

\n \"|\"
A woman holds a cross she recovered from the rubble of her earthquake-damaged house in Mbeliling, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (AP Photo\/Firdia Lisnawati)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n \"|\"
A woman sits inside a tent amid fear of aftershocks following an earthquake, in Reok, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (AP Photo\/Aquila Handayani Abbas)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n \"|\"
Saverinus Serli, left, inspects his earthquake-damaged house in Lelak, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (AP Photo\/Firdia Lisnawati)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n \"|\"
A worker removes a broken furniture inside a room at the local government office which was damaged during an earthquake in Ruteng, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (AP Photo\/Firdia Lisnawati)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RUTENG, Indonesia (AP) \u2014 Rescue teams in eastern Indonesia recovered six more bodies Sunday, a day after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake, raising the death toll to 53, authorities said, as thousands of displaced people spent the night outdoors in fear of aftershocks. Rescuers dug through debris looking for anyone buried beneath landslides triggered by the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":6970,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"guid":"4135160a-6670-4e19-8123-76f54547e48f","source":"The Associated Press","byline":"Firdia Lisnawati","published":"2026-08-16 00:48:51","updated":"2026-08-16 07:49:18","_infotelid":"","_prepressid":"","_multisite_post_sync":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1303,1304],"tags":[],"region":[],"class_list":["post-6964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","category-world"],"blocksy_meta":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/news\/6964\/rescuers-in-indonesia-recover-6-more-bodies-in-earthquake-aftermath-raising-death-toll-to-53\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Rescuers in Indonesia recover 6 more bodies in earthquake aftermath, raising death toll to 53","url":"http:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/news\/6964\/rescuers-in-indonesia-recover-6-more-bodies-in-earthquake-aftermath-raising-death-toll-to-53\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/news\/6964\/rescuers-in-indonesia-recover-6-more-bodies-in-earthquake-aftermath-raising-death-toll-to-53\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/inwheels-c64b1627d6b24eb4661288c6b438ad787621ee56b40bc1de967d7b8840565d85.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/inwheels-c64b1627d6b24eb4661288c6b438ad787621ee56b40bc1de967d7b8840565d85.jpg"},"articleSection":"International","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Associated Press"}],"creator":["The Associated Press"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"iNwheels","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2026-08-16T07:48:51Z","datePublished":"2026-08-16T07:48:51Z","dateModified":"2026-08-16T15:00:04Z"},"rendered":"