Health Ministry targets one-week restart for NTT hospitals after quake

Labuan Bajo — Indonesia’s Health Ministry has set an accelerated one-week target for basic hospital services to resume at earthquake-affected regional hospitals in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), while deploying a mobile hospital to Nagekeo and designating referral sites in Borong and Komodo, according to ministry officials quoted by national media on 16 August 2026.

The push follows the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck offshore near Mbay in Nagekeo Regency at 04:58 WIB on Saturday, 15 August 2026, prompting a tsunami early warning for coastal areas in NTT and several neighbouring provinces, according to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

Health Crisis Center Head Agus Jamaludin said the ministry’s immediate focus was on restoring trauma surgery, maternal and child health services and hemodialysis in affected hospitals within seven days. The plan includes sending a mobile hospital equipped with an operating theatre to Nagekeo, where the regional hospital sustained heavy damage and temporarily lost normal operating capacity.

To support continuity of care, Borong Regional Hospital in East Manggarai and Komodo Regional Hospital in West Manggarai were prepared as referral centers for patients who would normally be treated at Nagekeo Hospital. Authorities indicated that referrals would cover emergency and specialist services that the damaged facility could not safely provide during repairs.

Hospitals and primary care under strain

According to figures shared by the Health Ministry and reported by Indonesian outlets on 16 August, the earthquake affected 21 hospitals in eight districts and cities across NTT. Six hospitals were classified as lightly damaged and three as severely damaged, while the remainder required precautionary evacuations or operational adjustments.

Despite the damage, 16 of the 21 hospitals were still fully operational on 16 August, four were operating partially and one was temporarily non-functional. The one-week target applies to restoring basic inpatient and emergency services at all affected hospitals, though authorities have not publicly detailed progress at each facility beyond the initial status update.

Primary-care facilities also experienced significant disruption. Ministry data cited in national reporting show that 190 community health centers, or Puskesmas, were assessed in the affected area. Of these, 122 were fully operational, 49 partially operational and 19 not functioning as of 16 August.

Damage assessments classified 11 Puskesmas as lightly damaged, 37 as moderately damaged and 20 as severely damaged. The Health Ministry set a separate two-week target for all damaged Puskesmas to resume at least basic services, with priority given to pregnancy care, childbirth and routine immunization.

Emergency coordination and medical supplies

To coordinate the health-sector response, the Health Emergency Operation Center (HEOC) was activated under the Health Crisis Center. Agus Jamaludin said teams would carry out detailed assessments of health problems, facility damage, equipment needs and pharmaceutical requirements to guide the deployment of government and volunteer medical personnel.

Planned supplies for the emergency phase included packages of essential medicines, emergency medical kits, tens of thousands of gloves and surgical masks, oxygen concentrators and tents for temporary health posts. Additional tents were kept in reserve in case a Type 1 Emergency Medical Team was required to reinforce local capacity.

Earthquake and tsunami warning

BMKG initially recorded the offshore quake at magnitude 7.0, 38 kilometers northeast of Mbay at a depth of 10 kilometers, and later updated the figure to magnitude 7.7 and a depth of 15 kilometers after further analysis. The agency’s modelling indicated tsunami potential for coastal areas in East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi, prompting a tsunami early warning with “alert” status for several districts.

Sea-level gauges detected tsunami waves between 0.17 and 0.94 meters at a series of observation stations, including small waves at Labuan Bajo and Sikka. Based on those observations, BMKG declared the tsunami early warning over at 07:31 WIB on 15 August.

Regional and national disaster agencies reported that the shaking and minor tsunami waves were felt across Flores, including Manggarai, East Manggarai, West Manggarai, Nagekeo and Sikka, with health facilities among the sectors requiring urgent assessment and support. Detailed district-level reporting on the longer-term use of mobile hospitals, tents and other temporary arrangements for medical services has not yet been published by national authorities.

Sources

• Eljohn Media – Penanganan Gempa NTT, Kemenkes Kerahkan Tim Medis dan Siapkan RS Lapangan Bergerak
• Suara.com – Layanan Kesehatan NTT Dikebut Pulih Usai Gempa M7,7, RS Mobil Dikirim ke Nagekeo
• BMKG – Gempa Bumi M7,0 – 38 km TimurLaut MBAY-NAGEKEO-NTT
• AHA Centre – FLASH UPDATE No. 1: M7.7 Earthquake in East Nusa Tenggara
• Tempo.co (English) – M7.7 Earthquake Struck Nagekeo, BMKG Issues Tsunami Early Warning
• BBC News – Indonesia lifts tsunami warning after magnitude 7.7 earthquake
• Human Initiative – Situation Report #1: Earthquake NTT (English)
• ACT Alliance – Alert Note: Indonesia Earthquake August 2026