A massive 7.7 earthquake struck near Ende, Indonesia a short time ago. USGS believes an earthquake of this magnitude would lead to casualties and significant damage, with an estimated 1.5 million people exposed to strong to severe shaking during the seismic event.
“Aftershocks, some potentially with strong shaking, may follow this earthquake, ” USGS warns.
While the earthquake was intense, the National Weather Service’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has issued no bulletins or advisories for the U.S., underscoring their lack of concern of tsunami threats to the U.S. at this time.
The August 14, 2026, M7.7 Flores Sea earthquake occurred off the northern coast of East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, as the result of reverse faulting at shallow depth. USGS reports that the earthquake is located in a seismically active area dominated by convergence between the Australia and Sunda plates. Focal mechanism solutions indicate that the rupture occurred on either a west-striking fault dipping moderately to the north or an east-striking fault dipping shallowly to the south. The location, depth, and preliminary focal mechanism solution for this earthquake indicate the event is likely the result of thrust faulting within the overriding Sunda plate. At the location of this earthquake, the Australian plate is moving towards the north with respect to the Sunda plate at approximately 69 mm/yr. These two plates meet at the Sunda Trench, located approximately 350 km south of this earthquake.
While commonly plotted as points on maps, earthquakes of this size are more appropriately described as slip over a larger fault area. Reverse-faulting events of the size of the August 14, 2026, earthquake are typically about 90 by 45 km in size.
Earthquakes are common in this region. Since 1950, there have been 37 other earthquakes of magnitude 6 and greater, including five other earthquakes of magnitude 7 and larger within 250 km of the August 14, 2026, earthquake. In 1992, a M7.8 earthquake occurred just 63 km east-southeast of the August 14, 2026, earthquake. The 1992 earthquake and resulting tsunami destroyed tens of thousands of homes and resulted in at least 2500 fatalities.
It has been a violent last 45 days when it comes to earthquakes, with 3 other magnitude 7.2 or greater quakes striking. On June 24, there was a doublet in Venezuela with one earthquake measuring 7.2 and the other 7.5. On July 17, a 7.3 earthquake struck Chiapas, Mexico. And just a few days ago on August 10, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck western Columbia. All of these earthquakes led to significant damage and loss of life.
