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Survivors suffer after Indonesia quake
By Administrator
Published on 09/29/2026 09:00
News

NAGEKEO (Indonesia) — Sahria Lelu and her family were still living in a tent outside a mosque six weeks after a powerful earthquake that killed dozens in Indonesia, demonstrating the hard road home for thousands of survivors.

 

The 7.7-magnitude quake near Flores island on August 15 damaged tens of thousands of homes and left the water supply in limbo on one small island — but it has also been followed by roughly 15,000 aftershocks.

 

“What prevents us to go back home is that we are still traumatised, very traumatised,” said the 38-year-old resident of the Nagekeo district — one of the disaster-affected areas.

 

“Thank God, food is guaranteed here (and) there are volunteers to help us,” she added in the wake of the disaster the government says led to the deaths of 151 people.

 

The quake triggered a tsunami alert and ocean waters reached Sahria’s family home but did not destroy it. She fears the aftershocks could unleash more dangerous waves.

 

Over 46,000 houses were damaged by the seismic shock, and nearly 28,000 people were still displaced as of September 24, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Berton Panjaitan.

 

The latest figure is lower than the over 150,000 previously reported in September, but is not the full picture.

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