World news | The Guardian
· collected 2026-08-20 · by Kate Lamb and agencies
An 84-year-old woman named Paulina Pobi has been pulled alive from the rubble of her home three days after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake hit eastern Indonesia's Flores island. The quake killed at least 73 people, injured over 900, and displaced nearly 60,000 others. According to local officials, Pobi was paralyzed and unable to move or speak, but is now receiving treatment for weakness caused by dehydration after being found on Tuesday. The disaster has also left many people traumatized, with thousands of aftershocks recorded since the quake, including at least 86 strong enough to be felt by residents.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-20,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
A 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Indonesia, causing widespread destruction and chaos in the area. The quake hit Flores Island on Saturday morning, killing at least 73 people, injuring over 900, and displacing nearly 60,000 others. The death toll has been rising steadily as rescue efforts continue. Thousands of homes have been damaged or destroyed, with buildings collapsing onto parked cars and trees and boulders blocking roads.
In the aftermath of the quake, aid is still struggling to reach some areas, leaving many residents waiting for basic necessities like food, medicine, and clean water. Despite the challenges, a remarkable rescue effort has resulted in the safe evacuation of an 84-year-old woman who was buried under the collapsed walls of her home for three days.
The Indonesian government has declared a state of emergency in the affected region and is working to provide relief to those in need. The quake has also highlighted the vulnerability of Indonesia, which lies in the "ring of fire," an area prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
Written for “Indonesia Earthquake Crisis” on 2026-08-31,
grounded in this article and the 4 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
position.
No political leaning scored for article 1598 · logged 2026-08-21
An 84-year-old woman has been discovered alive in the flattened remains of her home three days after a powerful earthquake hit eastern Indonesia, authorities have confirmed.
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authorities → discover → Indonesia
The 7.7-magnitude quake struck off Indonesia’s Flores island on Saturday morning, killing at least 73 people, injuring more than 900 people and displacing nearly 60,000 others.
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quake → strike → others
A landslide triggered by the quake had blocked access to Nitunglea village where Paulina Pobi, 84, lived, leaving the elderly woman buried for three days under the collapsed bamboo walls of her home until Tuesday.
Sikka regency police Bambang Supeno told local media the woman had now been safely evacuated and taken to the nearest health centre for treatment.
“Because she was paralysed, she couldn’t move or speak, so it wasn’t until the fourth day that her family finally found her,” another local official, Rudolfus Riba, told Agence France-Presse.
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official → trigger → Presse
“She is in good health; there were no injuries at all.
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She → be → health
She was just a bit weak because she hadn’t eaten or drunk anything for days.”
“It feels unreal, almost like a miracle.”
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It → eat → miracle
Grocery stores, petrol stations and other shops have begun to reopen on the island, but debris still covers streets and searchers continue to dig in the rubble for possible victims.
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searchers → begin → victims
Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency said 398 tons of aid, including food, tents, refugee shelters and donations from the public, have been transported to affected communities.
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tons → say → communities
But the distribution process has been slowed by Flores’ mountainous terrain and roads damaged by the shallow quake.
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process → slow → quake
The government has expanded the use of military aircraft, ships and personnel to support emergency operations in the remote areas, disaster agency spokesperson Berton Panjaitan said in a video statement.
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Panjaitan → expand → statement
More than 3,000 aftershocks have been recorded since Saturday, at least 86 of them strong enough to be felt by residents, according to Indonesia’s geological agency.
uncertain
86 → record → agency
The tremors have made many too afraid to return to their damaged homes.
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many → make → homes
Regional police chief inspector general Rudi Darmoko said displaced communities were traumatised by the disaster.
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communities → say → disaster
“These refugees are not only physically injured, but they also have mental health issues that we must not ignore, especially for children,” he said.
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he → injure → children
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 South-east Asia and across the Pacific Ocean.
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that → experience → 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 about 170,000 in Indonesia.
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that → trigger → Indonesia
