The death toll from the magnitude 7.7 strong earthquake that struck near the coast of Indonesia's Flores Island has risen to 47.

Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) announced on the 16th local time that the earthquake, which struck the northern coast of Flores Island in East Nusa Tenggara province in the eastern Lesser Sunda Islands the previous day, resulted in 47 deaths.

BNPB stated that 47 bodies have been recovered so far, and 50 injured people have been transported to hospitals.

The death toll stood at 38 as of the previous afternoon, but increased by 9 as search and rescue operations for people buried under rubble continued.

BNPB reported that the earthquake completely destroyed 157 houses and damaged 189 others across Flores Island.

Consequently, 2,000 residents have moved to temporary shelters.

BNPB added that about 100 public facilities were also damaged, including 87 schools, 18 medical facilities, and 6 government offices.

Patur Rahman, head of the Maumere Search and Rescue Office in the Sikka region, expressed concern that casualties could rise further, stating, "Landslides triggered by the earthquake have buried many remote villages across Flores Island."

Indonesia's meteorological agency stated that at least 235 aftershocks have occurred since the initial magnitude 7.7 earthquake the previous day, with the largest aftershock recorded at magnitude 6.2.

Additionally, a coastal village in the Ngada region was covered in mud and debris as a 1.6-meter-high tsunami wave struck and receded, leaving some fishing boats stranded ashore.

Tsunami waves ranging from 0.5 to 0.9 meters in height were also observed in the Ende region of East Nusa Tenggara province and parts of South Sulawesi province.

Indonesian police explained that search and rescue operations for buried victims are being delayed in some areas due to power outages and landslides.

Rudi Darmoko, police chief of East Nusa Tenggara province, said, "We are continuing to gather information on casualties, but communication cutoffs are causing difficulties," adding, "In the landslide-hit Ende region, the 700-kilometer mountainous highway crossing Flores Island from Labuan Bajo to Larantuka has been blocked."

Earlier at around 5:58 a.m. the previous day, a strong earthquake of magnitude 7.7 struck off the northern coast of Flores Island.

The tremor was felt across most parts of Flores Island.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," making it prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

In 2004, a magnitude 9.1 earthquake off the coast of Banda Aceh in Aceh province, northern Sumatra, triggered a tsunami that killed 170,000 people.

On Flores Island, home to 2 million people, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake followed by a tsunami occurred in 1992, resulting in about 2,500 deaths.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)