Flores advocacy team serves legal notice over earthquake response

Ruteng — The Flores Disaster Victims and Refugees Advocacy Team served a legal notice on seven government institutions and officials on October 15, 2026, alleging negligence in the response to the August 15 earthquake in Flores, according to Ekorantt.

Why it matters: The notice places disaster-response accountability before national and provincial authorities after an earthquake that BMKG said killed 53 people and injured 137.

The notice was addressed to the president, the head of the National Disaster Management Agency, and the ministers responsible for health, social affairs, women’s empowerment and child protection, and public works, as well as the governor of East Nusa Tenggara.

The group said it was seeking enforcement of Indonesia’s 2007 Disaster Management Law, including stronger supervision, coordination and oversight at each stage of disaster management. It also called for public information about the earthquake’s effects and fulfilment of victims’ and displaced people’s basic needs, with priority for vulnerable groups.

The advocacy team further demanded rehabilitation and reconstruction of infrastructure and environmental recovery in response to water shortages, landslide damage and threats to coastal villages, Ekorantt reported.

The earthquake struck on August 15, 2026. The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency said the magnitude-7.7 event caused tsunami impacts and that preliminary figures recorded 53 deaths and 137 injuries.

The government said it had deployed assistance after the earthquake. The State Secretariat reported that 27 tonnes of initial logistics were sent to Flores and that more than 3,500 military and police personnel were deployed across affected areas.

The legal notice is an accountability demand and does not itself announce a change to visitor operations in Komodo National Park or Labuan Bajo.

Sources

• Ekorantt
• The Jakarta Post
• BMKG
• Sekretariat Negara