An Indonesian bishop has described the feelings of panic felt by the faithful on the predominantly Catholic island of Flores when it was struck by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake. At least 68 people have died across the country following the August 15 earthquake and 213 people have been injured, making it the deadliest since 2022.
Archbishop Paulus Budi Kleden of Ende, SVD, told Vatican News that he was preparing to celebrate a Confirmation Mass later in the day when the earthquake struck at 5am local time. “We were all panicking,” he said, though within hours he had begun visiting families displaced by the disaster.
