A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the sea near Flores Island in eastern Indonesia on the 15th local time. At least 20 people have been confirmed dead so far.
AFP, citing a local rescue official, said the quake that occurred off the northern coast of Flores Island in East Nusa Tenggara in the Lesser Sunda Islands killed 20 people in four villages.
The official said, "According to the report received, six people were also injured, and two remain buried in the rubble."
Authorities plan to focus on finding those buried, but rescue work is struggling as many roads have been blocked by landslides.
Local rescue teams are conducting operations across Flores Island.
Berton Suar Pelita Panjaitan, head of the BNPB Early Warning Agency, said, "As soon as the (casualty) data are verified, we will officially announce the final toll and the extent of building damage from this quake."
According to Reuters, the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) said strong shaking lasting about one minute was detected in parts of East and West Nusa Tenggara provinces and South Sulawesi, and residents, startled, rushed to evacuate outdoors.
BNPB said 2,000 people evacuated in Nagekeo, Flores Island, and multiple sites including dwellings, warehouses, government offices and their auxiliary facilities sustained quake damage.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck near Flores Island at about 5:58 a.m. USGS estimated the epicenter to be in the sea about 68 kilometers north-northwest of Ende, at a depth of 10 kilometers. Flores Island experienced a magnitude 7.7 quake in 1992, when at least 2,500 people were believed to have lost their lives.
Indonesia, a vast archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, sits on the "Ring of Fire," where volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific basin are connected by consolidation, making it vulnerable to earthquakes and volcanic activity.