Thousands in Indonesia await aid after quake kills 54, overshadowing Independence Day

Thousands in Indonesia await aid after quake kills 54, overshadowing Independence Day 0 seconds of 43 secondsVolume 0% Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts Keyboard ShortcutsEnabledDisabled Shortcuts Open/Close/ or ? Play/PauseSPACE Increase Volume↑ Decrease Volume↓ Seek Forward→ Seek Backward← Captions On/Offc Fullscreen/Exit Fullscreenf Mute/Unmutem Decrease Caption Size- Increase Caption Size+ or = Seek %0-9 Next Up Marc Anthony, Chayanne, more unite for earthquake relief 00:58 00:00 00:43 00:43 More Videos 00:58 Marc Anthony, Chayanne, more unite for earthquake relief 01:02 Total solar eclipse seen over northern Spain, the first in the country for more than a century 01:15 Meet the woman behind Matt Damon’s biceps in ‘The Odyssey’ 02:22 Nigel Farage wins special election boycotted by major parties, but investigation into finances continues 00:55 Polar bear cub in Japan goes viral for his love of traffic cones 03:35 Obesity drugs show early promise against the hormonal disorder PMOS 01:14 Traders feel the hit as Congo battles history's fastest-growing Ebola outbreak 01:25 The tourism industry proposes alternative ways of visiting the French capital amid cycling boom Close 1 of 6 | A magnitude 7.7 earthquake in eastern Indonesia killed at least 53 people and forced about 5,000 residents into temporary shelters. 2 of 6 | Motorists ride past a building that collapsed during an earthquake in Reo, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati) 3 of 6 | People take shelter in makeshift tent amid fears of aftershocks, following an earthquake in Reo, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati) 4 of 6 | earthquake survivors make fire to warm themselves outside their makeshift tent in Reo, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati) 5 of 6 | A broken statue of Jesus Christ is seen inside an earthquake-damaged church in Reo, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati) 6 of 6 | A man examines a building that collapsed during an earthquake in Reo, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati) By Firdia Lisnawati Updated 7:35 AM MESZ, August 17, 2026 Leer en español Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Reo, Indonesia (AP) — Thousands of people were still waiting for aid on the Indonesian island of Flores as the country celebrated its 81st Independence Day on Monday, days after a powerful earthquake killed at least 54 people, injured dozens and damaged hundreds of homes and other buildings. Many residents spent the day mourning victims, searching for loved ones and waiting for aid to arrive to communities still cut off by the deadly quake. More than 1,300 homes were damaged when the quake struck East Nusa Tenggara province on Saturday, with nearly 250 were destroyed on Flores alone. Some 5,000 people were forced into temporary shelters and 135 people were injured, according to the National Disaster Management Agency. The province’s governor declared a 14-day state of emergency on Sunday. The quake occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles) shortly before 6 a.m. Saturday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, and residents fled in panic as tsunami warnings were issued and later lifted. Authorities have since recorded at least 995 aftershocks, but only 46 were felt by residents. Thousands of people on Flores camped outside collapsed homes under tarpaulin tents overnight into Monday, sleeping outside because of the danger of more aftershocks. An Associated Press photojournalist saw widespread devastation across the island, with fallen trees blocking roads, giant boulders hurled downslope by landslides, and homes left shattered or heavily damaged. Parked cars were crushed when buildings collapsed during the quake. Rescuers in Indonesia recover 6 more bodies in earthquake aftermath, raising death toll to 53 1 MIN READ Magnitude 7.7 earthquake strikes off Indonesia’s coast, killing at least 47 and toppling buildings 2 MIN READ Rescatistas excavan entre escombros y deslaves tras sismo en Indonesia que mató a 53 2 MIN READ For many residents, the disaster revived painful memories of a powerful earthquake and tsunami that struck Flores in 1992, killing about 2,500 people. “My house is just rubble now,” said Rasyid Jafar, a clothing trader in the village of Reo, the hardest-hit area in Manggarai regency, ”We need food, medicine and clean water urgently.” More than 3,500 military and police personnel have been deployed across the disaster zone and 275 tons of aid have been to the area, though logistical challenges have slowed deliveries to some hard-hit communities. While some relief has trickled in, survivors say they still need equipment to cook food. “We have nothing left ... Why isn’t there a public kitchen?” said Mariana Tewu, another villager in Reo. Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions because of its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped arc of seismic faults and volcanoes. In 2018, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake triggered a tsunami on the island of Sulawesi 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 in a dozen countries, nearly 170,000 in Aceh province alone.