Indonesia is hit by a huge 7.7 magnitude earthquake: Buildings crumble and patients flee their hospital beds amid tsunami warning as people are told to move to higher ground

A powerful earthquake hit Indonesia as authorities told residents to stay away from beaches in case of tsunamis and hundreds were forced to evacuate.

The 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck off the Indonesian coast around 5.58am local time, around midnight in the UK.

Indonesia’s Flores Island was hit by the quake with a depth of 10km, with the epicentre 68km (42 miles) from Ende, on the southern coast of the island, in East Nusa Tenggara province.

No deaths or injuries were reported immediately after the quake, which was followed by two aftershocks, one with a magnitude of 6.1.

Authorities warned of tsunamis and told residents to stay away from beaches and riverbanks as the shallow quake threatened Indonesian coastlines.

Video appearing to be of the Port of Maumere on Flores captured crumbling buildings and shattered windows as people screamed and ran through the streets.

Comprising 17,000 islands, Indonesia is vulnerable to earthquakes because of its position on the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’, a series of volcanoes and fault lines around the ocean.

Lukas Lotar, a hospital porter, said: ‘Suddenly it started to shake and I panicked.

Windows shattered and plasterwork fell from walls as the 7.7 magnitude earthquake was followed by two aftershocks

People were filmed running through the street and screaming as authorities warned of possible tsunamis

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A small fishing village on the coastline of Flores, the Indonesian island near to where a 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit overnight (file pic)

‘Patients also fled the hospital, the jolt was big. I saw some walls were cracked.’

A hospital near Ende was filmed moving its patients outside by local media, though it is unclear whether this was in the same place Mr Lotar described.

Yohanna Embu, a resident of Sikka, which lies within East Nusa Tenggara province, said strong shaking had damaged buildings as people ran to higher ground.

‘Many buildings here were damaged. I saw that the waiting room at the Pelni port terminal in Maumere had collapsed,’ she said.

A spokesman for the country’s national disaster mitigation agency said the quake struck strongly for around one minute in regions such as Nagekeo and Bima.

Indonesia’s meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency (BKMG) said it was possible a tsunami could follow the quake.

‘Tsunami modelling results indicate that this earthquake has the potential to generate a tsunami in the provinces of East Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi, and West Nusa Tenggara,’ the agency said.

It warned residents of waves from 0.5m to 3m high as residents in Maumere evacuated to higher ground.

According to witnesses the sea around the island has washed out, a common sign of a coming tsunami. 

The Indonesian quake was of a higher magnitude than that which hit Colombia earlier this week.

That earthquake was a magnitude 7.4 and buried people across the country as buildings collapsed.

A pink sand beach on Flores, which lies in the country’s east (file pic)

The island is on the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’, named for its volcanoes and fault lines, including the Lewotobi Laki-Laki volcano which erupted in June last year

At least 111 were killed in Colombia and 87 were injured as the country declared a state of emergency and a race to find survivors began.

Also on the so-called Ring of Fire, the Colombian quake was felt as far away as Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela.

Indonesia has a history of deadly earthquakes, including the 2004 Boxing Day quake, a 9.1 magnitude event that struck off the coast of Sumatra.

One of the deadliest natural disasters ever recorded, it killed 170,000 in Indonesia and a further 52,000 in the surrounding region.

In 2018 a powerful earthquake shook the island of Lombok and more tremors followed during the following weeks, killing more than 550 people on the holiday island and neighbouring Sumbawa.

Later that year, a 7.5 magnitude quake and a subsequent tsunami in Palu on Sulawesi island left more than 4,300 people dead or missing.

Flores has also seen recent volcanic activity after the Lewotobi Laki-Laki volcano erupted last year, spewing ash high into the air.