RESCUE teams dug through collapsed buildings and landslide debris in eastern Indonesia as they searched for survivors a day after a powerful earthquake killed at least 51 people, injured more than 100 and displaced thousands.

At least 24 people died in Manggarai regency and 17 in neighbouring East Manggarai, with additional fatalities reported in Sikka, Ngada and Ende regencies, the National Disaster Management Agency said. 

Rescuers were still searching for villagers feared buried beneath landslides triggered by Saturday’s quake across six regencies on Flores, a predominantly Catholic island in Muslim-majority Indonesia.

“The shaking was terrifying, so intense that my house nearly collapsed,” said Anastasia Imad, a farmer in Labuan Bajo, speaking from a makeshift green tent beside her damaged home. “We feared the aftershocks would bring it down on us while we slept.”

Authorities said the magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck 42 miles north-north-west of Ende in East Nusa Tenggara province. The quake rattled much of the island and sent residents fleeing in panic. Tremors were also felt in neighbouring West Nusa Tenggara and parts of southern Sulawesi.

The disaster agency said the quake destroyed more than 900 homes and damaged nearly 450 more, forcing about 5,000 people into temporary shelters.