Indonesia hit by 7.7 magnitude earthquake. There are victims (photos, video)

A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Indonesia on the morning of August 15, killing at least five people, damaging buildings and forcing thousands of people to evacuate, Reuters reported.

The quake struck near the island of Flores. The US Geological Survey said its epicentre was 68 kilometres northwest of Ende in East Nusa Tenggara province at a depth of 10 kilometres. The Indonesian seismological service said the quake had a depth of 15 kilometres.

Several buildings collapsed in the island's Maumere town. Hospital patients were evacuated for safety reasons, and medical workers set up makeshift treatment areas in the open air. Power and communications were down in some areas.

The governor of East Nusa Tenggara, Emanuel Melquiades Laka Lena, said five people were killed when structures collapsed while they slept. Meanwhile, the country's Disaster Management Agency initially reported one death and four injuries.

A tsunami warning was issued after the quake. Waves less than one meter high were recorded in some areas, but the warning was lifted after about three hours.

About 2,000 people were evacuated from their homes in the Nagekeo area. The quake was also felt strongly in parts of East and West Nusa Tenggara and South Sulawesi. Dozens of aftershocks were recorded after the main tremor.

Indonesia is prone to strong earthquakes due to its location on the Pacific Ocean's seismically active "Ring of Fire." An earthquake and tsunami on the island of Flores in 1992 killed nearly 2,500 people. In 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake off Sumatra triggered a tsunami that killed nearly 230,000 people in several countries.

Earlier, a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck Colombia, killing 132 people. On July 28, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck the Japanese island of Kyushu. The death toll was later raised to 13. On July 20, two earthquakes in the mountainous region of Peru killed at least six people and injured 21.