A 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck the Indonesian island of Flores on Monday, located in the eastern part of the country. The United States Geological Survey reported that the earthquake occurred at 8:46 local time at a depth of 35.6 kilometres, with its epicentre 42.1 kilometres to the north-northwest of Ende, the most populated locality on the island.
The tremor did not trigger a tsunami alert. It came two days after the region was hit by a strong 7.7-magnitude earthquake that left 53 dead, 137 injured and more than 5,000 evacuated, according to authorities.
Saturday's earthquake had its epicentre 62 kilometres from Ende and was followed by around a thousand aftershocks, of which 46 were felt by the population. The provincial government is processing a decree to declare a state of emergency in the region for 14 days in order to coordinate aid with central authorities.
Around 2 million people inhabit the island of Flores, where Ende is one of the main cities with approximately 90,000 inhabitants. Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a zone of considerable seismic and volcanic activity where around 7,000 earthquakes are recorded annually, most of moderate magnitude.