JAKARTA, thekabarnews.com—The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) has recorded preliminary damage to 53,971 homes across seven regencies in East Nusa Tenggara following the magnitude 7.7 Flores earthquake.

BNPB published the figure on Sunday, August 23, based on reports collected through Saturday, the eighth day after the disaster. The agency stressed that teams were still verifying the figures against conditions at each address.

Of the reported total, authorities classified 19,006 homes as severely damaged, 11,777 as moderately damaged and 23,188 as lightly damaged.

Manggarai Timur recorded the largest number, with 17,039 damaged homes. Manggarai Barat followed with 9,402, Ngada with 8,129 and Manggarai with 7,045. Officials also reported 4,829 damaged homes in Nagekeo, 3,953 in Ende and 3,574 in Sikka.

BNPB said early verification would allow the government to identify survivors’ needs without waiting for the emergency-response period to end.

The results will guide temporary-housing assistance, reconstruction planning and other forms of government support.

The BNPB’s Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Division has deployed teams to all seven affected regencies.

Six have submitted preliminary records containing residents’ names and addresses down to the village level. Manggarai officials were still entering their data when BNPB issued its update.

Nagekeo authorities had already started field verification using BNPB’s assessment system. After completing the process, local administrations may formally approve validated records through a regional head’s decree. BNPB can order another survey if its sampling finds discrepancies.

BNPB plans to hold technical training on Tuesday, August 25, to prepare local enumerators to inspect buildings and classify damage consistently.

Homes confirmed as severely damaged will help determine the number of families requiring temporary accommodation or dana tunggu hunian, a transitional housing allowance provided while permanent homes are prepared.

The main earthquake struck north of Flores on August 15 at 4:58 a.m. This was Western Indonesian Time (WIB), or 5:58 a.m. local time. BMKG located its epicenter at sea, approximately 30 kilometers northeast of Nagekeo, at a depth of about 15 kilometers.

The agency attributed the shallow earthquake to thrust movement along the Flores Back-Arc Thrust. BMKG ended its tsunami warning at 7:30 a.m. after monitoring stations detected no further dangerous rise in sea level. BMKG’s official assessment provides further technical details.

By August 21, BMKG had recorded 4,258 aftershocks, including 118 felt by residents and 31 with magnitudes above 5.0. The continuing seismic activity makes building inspections and accurate damage classification particularly important.

BNPB said emergency assistance and housing assessments would proceed simultaneously.

The agency cautioned that its current housing figures remain provisional and may change after local and national teams complete verification. BNPB’s latest damage report should therefore serve as the primary reference for subsequent updates.