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國際時事跟讀 Ep. L257: Indonesia Quake: 53 Dead, Nearly 1,000 Aftershocks
Highlights 主題摘要
- A magnitude 7.7 quake off Indonesia's Flores island killed at least 53 people and displaced 5,000.
- Memories of the deadly 1992 Flores tsunami sent villagers running uphill the moment the sea drew back.
- Landslides cut off the worst-hit districts; thousands still sleep outdoors after nearly 1,000 aftershocks.
The shaking began just before six on Saturday morning, while much of Flores was still asleep. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, only ten kilometres deep, ruptured the seabed off the island's north coast. In Ruteng, hospital ceilings caved in and patients were moved outside into tents. At a Catholic seminary in Sikka, an assembly hall roof collapsed during morning Mass, sending students and nuns scrambling into the open. By Sunday, Indonesian authorities had put the death toll at 53, with more than a hundred injured and some 5,000 people displaced.
週六清晨將近六點，佛羅雷斯島上多數居民仍在熟睡，強震突然來襲。這起規模7.7的地震震源深度僅10公里，震央位於島嶼北岸外海。魯滕的醫院天花板震塌，病患被緊急移往戶外帳篷治療。席卡縣一所天主教神學院的禮堂屋頂在晨間彌撒時倒塌，學生與修女倉皇逃出。截至週日，印尼當局統計已有53人罹難、逾百人受傷，約5000人流離失所。
What sent villagers running uphill was not the shaking so much as what lives on in local memory. In 1992, a quake of the same magnitude struck the same water and triggered a tsunami that killed about 2,500 islanders. So when the sea visibly drew back on Saturday, residents near the epicentre did not wait to be told. The tsunami warning was lifted three hours later, once monitors detected no dangerous rise in sea level. Indonesia sits astride the Pacific Ring of Fire, among the most seismically exposed countries on earth.
讓村民拔腿往山上跑的，其實不是搖晃本身，而是留在當地人記憶裡的創傷。1992年，同樣規模的強震襲擊同一片海域並引發海嘯，島上約2500人喪生。因此週六一早海水明顯退去時，震央附近的居民不等通知就往高處逃。三小時後，監測站未測得危險的海平面變化，海嘯警報隨即解除。印尼位處太平洋火環帶，是全球地震風險最高的國家之一。
The rescue effort has been shaped less by the quake than by the terrain. Landslides severed sections of the Trans-Flores Highway, a 700-kilometre artery through mountainous country, leaving three of the worst-hit regencies cut off for more than a day. Search teams reached them only on Sunday, some arriving by ferry. "We have cleared most landslides and reopened roads to previously isolated villages," said Fathur Rahman, who heads the search-and-rescue office in Maumere, though communication blackouts and power cuts continued to hamper the work.
救援的最大阻礙不是地震本身，而是地形。山崩切斷橫貫佛羅雷斯公路的多個路段，這條長約700公里的幹道穿過山區，災情最重的三個縣因此對外中斷超過一天。搜救隊直到週日才抵達，部分人員改搭渡輪前往。毛梅雷搜救辦公室主任拉曼（Fathur Rahman）表示：「我們已經清除大部分土石，通往先前孤立的村落的道路也重新開放。」但通訊中斷和停電仍在拖慢搜救進度。
Relief has begun to trickle in: 50,000 aid packages weighing 275 tonnes, at least five helicopters, a naval vessel and a fourteen-day emergency response across the province. Even so, monitors logged close to a thousand aftershocks by Sunday afternoon, and thousands spent a second night under tarpaulins rather than return to houses left standing but no longer trusted. "The shaking was terrifying, so intense that my house nearly collapsed," one farmer told the Associated Press. Officials cite the same mix behind the full shelters: aftershocks, damaged homes and the memory of 1992.
援助陸續抵達：5萬份物資共重275公噸，至少5架直升機和1艘海軍艦艇馳援，全省進入為期14天的緊急應變期。不過截至週日下午，監測單位已記錄將近1000次餘震，數千人寧願在帆布棚下再睡一晚，也不敢回到那些沒倒、卻已讓人不放心的房子。一名農婦在受損住家旁的帳篷裡告訴美聯社：「搖得太可怕了，我家差點垮掉。」官員指出，讓收容所滿載的就是這幾件事：餘震、受損的房屋，還有1992年的記憶。
Keyword Drills 關鍵字
- Cave in [verb phrase, to collapse inwards under weight or pressure]: The old roof caved in after heavy snow.
- Draw back [verb phrase, to move backwards or retreat]: The sea drew back before the wave came.
- Astride [preposition, positioned across or on both sides of something]: The town sits astride a major fault line.
- Hamper [verb, to slow down or obstruct an effort]: Heavy rain hampered the search for survivors.
- Trickle in [verb phrase, to arrive slowly and in small amounts]: Donations trickled in after the first report.
Reference article:
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/08/14/asia/indonesia-earthquake-intl-latam
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3v00w5ylw9o
https://www.inquirer.com/news/nation-world/indonesia-earthquake-death-toll-rises-flores-20260816.html
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/15/at-least-two-killed-as-magnitude-7-7-quake-hits-indonesia
https://www.thestar.com.my/aseanplus/aseanplus-news/2026/08/16/indonesia039s-flores-quake-nearly-1000-aftershocks-recorded-thousands-remain-evacuated
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aopl/202608160084.aspx