JAKARTA - Nearly 190,000 people remained displaced on Indonesia’s Flores island more than two weeks after a magnitude-7.7 earthquake, according to the latest government count.
The National Disaster Management Agency’s latest tally recorded 188,161 displaced people at 7 a.m. Jakarta time on Aug. 30, down 4,142 from its preceding count.
Nagekeo and Manggarai regencies had the largest concentrations, with 50,574 and 50,556 people respectively. Evacuees were also recorded in East Manggarai, West Manggarai, Ngada, Sikka and Ende.
BNPB said 111 people had died and 1,631 were injured, including 223 with serious injuries. Its preliminary assessment listed 95,567 damaged homes—27,414 severely, 21,992 moderately and 46,161 lightly damaged. The agency maintains a dedicated emergency-response dashboard for the disaster.
Of the 1,985,736 kilograms of supplies received from Aug. 15 through Aug. 30, the national logistics operation had dispatched 1,953,849 kilograms, or 98.39%, through distribution centers in Maumere and Labuan Bajo.
“Almost all of the aid we received has been distributed,” acting BNPB spokesperson Berton SP Panjaitan said at an Aug. 30 news conference.
Distribution continued Monday, when BNPB reported that 16.4 tons of a 17.7-ton Bank Indonesia consignment had been sent to affected areas by road and air.
A Sept. 1 Education Ministry update underscored the disruption beyond housing. Data through Aug. 23 showed 1,918 education facilities affected, including 665 severely damaged schools, while 141,207 students were unable to attend classes and 48,164 members of school communities were displaced.
By Aug. 30, 89 emergency-classroom tents had been installed, against requests from 785 schools for 2,908 temporary classrooms.
The quake struck off northern Flores on Aug. 15 and was followed by 9,765 aftershocks through Aug. 30, including 155 felt by residents, BNPB said, citing Indonesia’s meteorology agency.
“We continue to emphasize that earthquakes like these may be experienced for three to four weeks after the first quake,” Panjaitan said in remarks translated from Indonesian.
The scale of the housing damage means relief shipments are only one part of the recovery. “There is an urgent need to provide temporary housing or relocation for 27,414 families whose homes were severely damaged,” Panjaitan said.
