An earthquake struck off the coast of Flores Island in Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province on Saturday, August 15, in the morning, at a depth of about ten kilometers.
The Indonesian BMKG issued a tsunami alert a few minutes after the quake, before lifting it; the highest wave measured reached 0.94 meters on the coast of Ende.
The port terminal in Maumere collapsed on passengers who were boarding, in a sequence captured and verified on video.
Where it breaks apart
— A human toll that varies from 1 to 20 deaths depending on the administrative level consulted — Four different death tolls coexist in the corpus, each corresponding to a different level of the Indonesian state. The national disaster management agency (BNPB) reports one to two deaths. The governor of the province, Emanuel Melkiades Laka Lena, reports five deaths. The local relief official, Fathur Rahman, cited by the AFP, reports twenty deaths. No media outlet confronts these numbers with their institutional source; most choose one and attribute it correctly, without reporting the existence of the others.
— Magnitude and epicenter: two competing official measurements — The USGS reports a magnitude of 7.7 and an epicenter 68 kilometers north-northwest of Ende. Geoscience Australia measures 7.8. The Indonesian BMKG situates the epicenter near Mbay, in the Nagekeo regency, and retains a depth of fifteen kilometers, whereas the USGS retains ten. Media outlets repeat the institution of their choice without ever comparing it.
— The covered event is not the same on either side of the Pacific — For South American media outlets, the subject is the triggering and then the lifting of an alert on their own coasts, thousands of kilometers from the epicenter: a local non-catastrophe. For the Indonesian media outlet, it's about named deaths, a collapsed port, and an evacuated population. For European and North American media outlets, it's an exercise in verifying the toll from a distance.
Explore every perspective on this subject across 14 countries.
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Catastrophes naturelles
Magnitude 7.7 earthquake off Flores: the tsunami alert crosses the Pacific, and the death toll ranges from 1 to 20
A 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Flores Island in Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province on Saturday, August 15, 2026, at a depth of about 10 kilometers, according to the USGS. Indonesia's BMKG agency issued a tsunami alert minutes after the quake, which was later lifted. The port terminal in Maumere collapsed on passengers boarding, and dozens of aftershocks were recorded, with the alert relayed as far as the South American Pacific coast.
The human toll is not yet stabilized, ranging from one to twenty deaths, depending on whether the national agency, the provincial governor, or local rescue teams are cited.
The port of Maumere
The terminal collapsed on passengers boarding a ferry; the video was verified by Reuters.
The named victims
The BNPB identified Bernadus Muda, from Adonara, and Maria Diana Meliana, from Sikka.
The transpacific alert
The Peruvian navy issued a warning bulletin fifteen minutes after the quake, thousands of kilometers away.
Key figures
7.7
Magnitude as measured by the USGS; Geoscience Australia reports 7.8
