BNPB: 77,912 houses damaged in August NTT earthquake, provisional tally
Indonesia’s disaster agency BNPB has reported that 77,912 houses were damaged in the 15 August 2026 NTT earthquake, based on provisional data from seven districts as of 24 August, with figures undergoing ongoing verification for…
By Mukmin John
Editor: Mursyid Sonsang
· Event date: · 3 min read
Labuan Bajo — Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) has reported that a provisional total of 77,912 houses were damaged by the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) on 15 August 2026, based on data locked as of 24 August 2026 and released later that week.
According to BNPB’s figures cited by national media, the damaged houses are spread across seven districts: Nagekeo, Ende, Manggarai, East Manggarai, West Manggarai, Ngada and Sikka.
BNPB’s national spokesperson Berton S.P. Panjaitan said in an online press briefing that the total of 77,912 damaged houses is divided into three categories: 24,597 houses classified as heavily damaged, 18,537 moderately damaged and 34,778 lightly damaged.
Media reports quoting BNPB state that East Manggarai recorded the highest number of damaged houses among the seven districts.
District breakdown and West Manggarai total
BNPB’s release and subsequent coverage emphasise that the figures are preliminary, compiled while emergency response was still under way and before all field verification had been completed.
In the seven districts identified by BNPB — Nagekeo, Ende, Manggarai, East Manggarai, West Manggarai, Ngada and Sikka — the agency’s damage classification divides housing impacts into heavy, moderate and light.
Media reporting on the BNPB data notes that damage is concentrated in Manggarai, Nagekeo, East Manggarai and West Manggarai, followed by Sikka, Ende and Ngada.
Within this group, West Manggarai is among the districts with substantial housing damage, but BNPB’s nationally reported figures do not provide a published district-by-district numerical breakdown for every category in each district.
Verification and reconstruction
BNPB has described the 77,912 figure as part of an ongoing process of data collection, verification and validation to support rehabilitation and reconstruction.
In public briefings and interviews reported by national media, BNPB explains that local governments first collect information on damaged houses, after which data are checked to confirm the identity and address of potential aid recipients.
Enumerators then conduct field surveys to assess the level of damage and assign each house to an established category: heavy, moderate or light.
BNPB officials have stressed that this verification process distinguishes an initial damage tally from a validated reconstruction list.
According to coverage of BNPB’s statements, the verified data are used to determine needs, set priorities, decide assistance levels and plan the rehabilitation and reconstruction of affected communities.
Subsequent updates from BNPB in September 2026 show that as verification continued, the agency’s figures for damaged houses in NTT increased from the provisional total of 77,912 to more than 98,000 and later more than 103,000 houses, illustrating how the count evolves as validation progresses.
Training and local participation
BNPB has stated that it involves local government agencies, technical staff and volunteers in the verification and reconstruction process, including through technical briefings and training activities in affected districts.
National coverage of BNPB’s recovery work also notes that the agency promotes a “build back better” approach, aiming to ensure that post-earthquake reconstruction improves resilience and reduces future disaster risks for communities in NTT.
Context
The earthquake struck NTT on 15 August 2026, triggering thousands of aftershocks and causing severe damage across multiple districts.
BNPB’s provisional tally of 77,912 damaged houses reflects data locked as of 24 August 2026 and shared publicly in briefings and media reports on 25–27 August, while emergency response operations and verification activities were still under way.
Sources
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