Thousands await aid after deadly Indonesia quake
A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake has struck Indonesia's Flores island, killing 51 people and displacing thousands. Emergency aid is currently being mobilized as survivors face a lack of basic necessities and ongoing aftershocks.
Why it matters
Large-scale natural disasters in developing regions require urgent international and governmental humanitarian intervention to prevent further loss of life.
People stay in a makeshift tent in Mbay after fleeing their homes in the aftermath of the earthquake. (EPA Images pic)
RUTENG: Help started arriving on Sunday for thousands of evacuees on Indonesia's Flores island after a powerful earthquake killed 51 people, injured dozens, and damaged hundreds of houses and buildings.
Some 5,000 people fled their homes as the 7.7-magnitude quake hit the island early Saturday, followed by at least 341 aftershocks in the hours after that, a spokesman for the BNPB national disaster agency, Berton Suar Pelita Panjaitan, said.
People in some areas were left without electricity and telecommunications, and at least one emergency access road remained inaccessible.
"We need food, drink, medicines, and diapers for the children," Umri, a resident of Nangahale village on the north coast of Flores, told AFP on Sunday morning.
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