Tsunami waves of less than one metre were recorded in several areas of the country, and the tsunami warning was lifted about three hours after the quake.
The governor of East Nusa Tenggara province, Emanuel Melkiades Laka Lena, said five people died from collapsing rubble as they slept.
Rescuers around the port town of Maumere found 20 dead, six injured and two trapped under the rubble, said Fathur Rahman, head of the city’s rescue agency. Maumere is the main town in Sikka Regency on Flores Island in the east of Indonesia’s vast archipelago.
Teams have yet to reach Nagekeo, the region closest to the epicentre, and communications signals there had been affected, he said, adding attempts to reach Nagekeo by car were blocked by landslides and another team was attempting to go by ferry.
Parts of a building collapsed into dust and rubble as people screamed and ran in the street at a port in Maumere, the main town in Sikka Regency on Flores Island, a video on Facebook showed.
“The quake was massive, the shock was so strong, we were resting at home with family,” said Nona, a 51-year-old resident of Talibura, a village in East Nusa Tenggara. “There were 13 of us inside the house and we all ran to save ourselves.”
Strong shaking was felt across East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara and parts of South Sulawesi, and residents in several areas reported shaking lasting about one minute, BNPB said in a statement.
“Most of the people felt the shock and scattered out of their homes,” it said.
A hospital in the district of Ende in East Nusa Tenggara Province was moving patients outside, Kompas TV footage showed, and Kompas.com reported at least one landslide.
Indonesian geophysics agency BMKG recorded the first quake at 4.58am at a depth of 15 kilometres, followed by several aftershocks.
About 2,000 residents in Nagekeo evacuated, and damage was reported to a number of houses, warehouses and government facilities, BNPB said. Authorities also reported traffic congestion and power outages affecting parts of the regency, it said. (Reuters)