M7.7 Flores quake felt in Komodo, Padar tourists led uphill

Labuan Bajo — — A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake off Flores early on Saturday, 15 August 2026, was felt inside Komodo National Park, where a guide moved tourists on Padar Island to higher ground while shaking and tsunami warnings affected nearby coastal areas, according to Indonesian authorities and local media.

Indonesia’s meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency BMKG reported that the main quake struck at 04:58 WIB with an updated magnitude of 7.7, at a depth of about 15 km and with an epicentre at sea roughly 30 km northeast of Nagekeo in Flores. BMKG said the quake triggered tsunami waves in parts of Nusa Tenggara Timur, Nusa Tenggara Barat, South Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi and led to casualties and damage in several districts including Manggarai Barat, which covers Labuan Bajo and parts of Komodo National Park.

Tour group moved uphill on Padar Island

According to a report from detikTravel, tremors were felt on Padar Island inside Komodo National Park around sunrise as a group of tourists were visiting a hilltop viewpoint. The outlet reported that a local guide led visitors to higher ground and tried to reassure them while recording video that later appeared on the guide’s Instagram account, which showed trees swaying and tourists gathered on a hill during the shaking.

In the detikTravel account, the guide could be heard telling the group not to panic, but the report did not specify the visitors’ nationalities, group size or any injuries inside the park. The media coverage did not clarify whether the movement to higher ground followed a formal park emergency protocol or was a precautionary action by the guide.

BMKG’s macroseismic survey found strong shaking in Manggarai Barat, with intensity up to VII on the Modified Mercalli scale in some locations, consistent with the tremors reported from Komodo National Park and surrounding islands. However, as of the latest BMKG and national coverage available, there were no detailed official descriptions of specific damage to trails, jetties or viewing platforms on Padar Island.

Labuan Bajo hotel damage and injuries

DetikTravel also reported that The Jayakarta Suites Komodo-Flores hotel in Labuan Bajo suffered significant structural damage in the quake, including a collapsed section of the front wall and ceiling damage on the first floor. The hotel’s representative, quoted by detikTravel, said the property was closed temporarily from 15 August 2026 for maintenance and repairs following the earthquake.

The same report cited information given to police and family members that two Chinese tourists staying at the hotel were taken to hospital after being injured while trying to evacuate during the quake, one with back injuries and the other with injuries to the nose and leg. These incidents occurred in Labuan Bajo, the main gateway town to Komodo National Park, and not on Padar Island itself.

Broader national reporting based on BMKG and disaster agency data indicates that the Flores earthquake and ensuing tsunami caused deaths, injuries and widespread damage across Flores, with Manggarai Barat among the hardest-hit areas, although most coverage has focused on towns and coastal settlements rather than park facilities.

Conditions and official information

BMKG said it issued an initial tsunami warning about two minutes after the main shock, with “Siaga” and “Waspada” threat levels for parts of NTT and neighbouring provinces, and later lifted the tsunami warning at 07:30 WIB once sea-level observations and field data supported ending the alert. Subsequent BMKG analyses describe the Flores 2026 event as a shallow thrust-fault earthquake on the Flores Back-Arc Thrust system, generating thousands of aftershocks in the weeks that followed.

As of the latest official and media reports consulted for this article, authorities have released overall impact figures for Flores and nearby regions but have not published a detailed engineering assessment specifically focused on Komodo National Park’s trails, stairs, viewing platforms, jetties or ranger posts.

The available coverage confirms that shaking was felt in the park and that tourists on Padar Island were moved to higher ground by a guide, but it does not document park closures, specific damage to visitor infrastructure on Padar or injuries among visitors or staff inside the park.

Sources

• BMKG press release on ending tsunami early warning after M7.7 NTT quake
• Okezone report on 7,429 aftershocks after Flores M7.7 quake
• detikTravel report on quake felt in Komodo and damage to Jayakarta Labuan Bajo