BNPB counts 135 deaths linked to August 2026 Flores earthquake

Labuan Bajo — Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) has recorded 135 deaths

Acting head of BNPB’s Data, Information and Disaster Communication Centre, Berton SP Panjaitan, outlined the figures in a press briefing on 8 September, saying 48 people had died directly as a result of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake, while 87 others had died from indirect impacts of the disaster.

Several outlets reporting on the same BNPB update note that the 135 figure is an agency compilation combining direct and indirect deaths, and not a separate independent count.

Scale of reported impact

BNPB’s 8 September data, cited across national and regional media, also describe extensive injuries, displacement and housing damage in Flores and wider East Nusa Tenggara.

• Deaths: 135 total, including 48 direct and 87 indirect deaths.
• Injuries: Around 1,763 people injured.
• Displaced: About 70,382 people displaced.
• Homes reported damaged: Approximately 98,986 houses damaged.
• Public facilities damaged: Hundreds of education and health facilities and offices reported damaged.

The same BNPB briefing said more than 2,000 tonnes of relief supplies had been transported to East Nusa Tenggara using Indonesian Air Force Hercules aircraft and an Indonesian Navy vessel, with logistics routed through Frans Seda Airport in Maumere and Komodo Airport in Labuan Bajo.

BNPB stated that its verification of damaged houses was still under way. Of more than 51,000 homes surveyed at that point, thousands were classified as heavily, moderately or lightly damaged, while tens of thousands of other inspected houses were recorded as affected but did not fall into those three categories.

Officials emphasised that the figures remained provisional and would change as local governments completed household-level verification and submitted name-and-address data to BNPB.

Direct and indirect deaths

BNPB’s categorisation distinguishes between deaths caused directly by the physical impacts of the earthquake and those resulting from indirect consequences such as underlying health conditions or disaster-related factors.

In public statements summarised by Indonesian media, agency head Suharyanto and BNPB staff stressed that 48 people had been confirmed dead due to the earthquake itself, while 87 deaths were classified as indirect and largely linked to pre-existing illness or natural causes occurring in the wider disaster context.

BNPB also underlined that no additional deaths had been attributed to the sequence of aftershocks that followed the main 15 August event.

Ongoing verification

BNPB has indicated that the casualty and damage numbers, including the 135 deaths, are subject to further verification.

As of early September, the agency was still compiling and reconciling data from affected districts across Flores, and had not publicly released a single consolidated database covering the death toll, missing persons, injuries and verified damaged locations.

Officials have said that final figures will depend on continuing field checks and on local authorities submitting complete, by-name and by-address records of affected residents.

Sources

• Pos-Kupang regional news report on BNPB casualty update
• RRI Ende regional report on earthquake refugees and BNPB data
• Merdeka national report quoting BNPB’s Berton SP Panjaitan on casualty figures
• Bisnis Indonesia report on declining quake activity and BNPB’s casualty breakdown
• Flores Pos