Thousands of people were still waiting for help on the Indonesian island of Flores as the country marked its 81st Independence Day on Monday, days after a powerful earthquake killed at least 68 people, injured more than 200 and damaged hundreds of homes and other buildings. Many residents of Flores island in East Nusa Tenggara province spent the day mourning the victims and waiting for help to reach communities still isolated by the deadly earthquake. During Indonesia’s Independence Day ceremony in the capital Jakarta, President Prabowo Subianto asked participants to pray for people affected by disasters in East Nusa Tenggara and other parts of the country, as he led a nationwide moment of silence to honor the nation’s independence heroes. More than 1,300 houses were damaged when the earthquake hit the East. Nusa Tenggara province on Saturday, with almost 250 destroyed in Flores alone. Some 5,000 people were forced to stay in temporary shelters and 213 people were injured, according to the National Disaster Management Agency or BNPB. Story continues below ad The province’s governor declared a 14-day state of emergency on Sunday. 2:02 At least 38 dead as 7.7 magnitude earthquake hits Indonesia The quake struck at a depth of 10 kilometers (six miles) shortly before 6 a.m. Saturday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, and residents fled in panic when tsunami warnings were issued but later lifted. Since then, authorities have recorded 1,576 aftershocks as of Monday, although only a small proportion were felt by residents. Thousands of people wait for help amid the devastation. Thousands of people in Flores camped outside collapsed homes under tents overnight 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 flung downhill from landslides, and homes smashed or severely damaged. Buildings collapsed onto parked cars. Get the latest national news Get the latest Canadian news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you don’t miss any breaking news. For many residents, the disaster revived painful memories of a powerful earthquake and tsunami that devastated Flores in 1992, killing about 2,500 people. “My house is now just rubble,” said Rasyid Jafar, a clothing merchant in Reo village, the worst-affected area in Manggarai regency. “We urgently need food, medicine and clean water.” 10 planes to distribute 275 tons of aid in the area, as logistical problems have slowed deliveries to some hardest-hit communities, Abdul Muhari, deputy director of the BNPB, said in a video statement. 1:37 15-year-old ‘Superman’ joins fight against devastating Indonesian forest fires More on the world More videos Authorities set up two emergency field hospitals in the hardest-hit town of Ruteng to treat earthquake victims after local hospitals were damaged, with two crisis management teams overseeing an emergency health operations center, Muhari said. He also said rescue teams continue to search for victims in the affected areas, although no residents have reported missing family members. Rescuers struggle to reach isolated communities Aid workers reached the small Palue Island, one of the areas closest to the earthquake’s epicenter, on Sunday night after a difficult journey by sea and land through terrain affected by landslides, authorities said. Thousands of residents still needed urgent assistance after days of isolation. “The roads are steep and many were blocked by landslides. It was a near-deadly journey,” said Sikka regency deputy police chief Marselus Yugo Amboro, whose team was one of the first to reach the island with emergency supplies. He said initial assessments revealed extensive damage, with one villager dead, two seriously injured and nearly 150 homes destroyed. With 17,000 islands, it is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions due to 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 earthquake off Sumatra unleashed a tsunami that killed about 230,000 people in a dozen countries, nearly 170,000 in Aceh province alone. © 2026 The Canadian Press