Indonesia family finds 84-year-old woman alive days after earthquake

This handout picture taken and released on August 19, 2026 by Indonesia's Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) shows rescue personnel evacuating a person on a stretcher in East Manggarai, following a 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck Indonesia's Flores island on August 15. The number of people displaced and injured by a powerful earthquake three days ago has jumped significantly, emergency officials said on August 18, with at least 40,000 people living in temporary shelters. — Indonesia Search and Rescue agency handout via AFP

First Published: Wednesday, 19 Aug 2026 8:04 PM MYT

SIKKA (Indonesia), Aug 19 — A paralysed 84-year-old woman has been found alive three days after a strong earthquake flattened her home on an Indonesian island, an official said Wednesday, as the death toll rose to 73.

More than 900 people were injured and nearly 60,000 displaced by the 7.7-magnitude quake that struck off Indonesia’s Flores island on Saturday, according to the BNPB disaster mitigation agency.

Paulina Pobi’s house on a small island north of Flores was one of hundreds knocked down by the earthquake, with the 84-year-old buried alive under collapsed bamboo walls.

She had remained there until her family, who initially thought she had been rescued and taken to a shelter, returned to look for her yesterday.

“Because she was paralysed, she couldn’t move or speak, so it wasn’t until the fourth day that her family finally found her,” local official Rudolfus Riba told AFP.

“She is in good health; there were no injuries at all. She was just a bit weak because she hadn’ t eaten or drunk anything for days,” Rudolfus said.

“It feels unreal, almost like a miracle.”

More than 3,000 aftershocks have been recorded since Saturday, at least 86 of them strong enough to be felt by residents, according to the BMKG geological agency.

The tremors have made many too afraid to return to their damaged homes.

The BNPB said nearly 400 tonnes of aid, including food, water and medicines, have been delivered since Saturday.

Indonesia frequently experiences earthquakes because it lies on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, a zone of intense seismic and volcanic activity that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific Ocean.

In 2004, a powerful 9.1-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Sumatra triggered a tsunami that killed about 220,000 people across the region, including around 170,000 in Indonesia. — AFP