JAKARTA - The death toll from a powerful earthquake that rattled Indonesia reached 68 on Monday while the search for victims continued, authorities said.
Most of the casualties were found in the central part of Flores Island in East Nusa Tenggara Province, according to a National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman. The magnitude 7.7 quake struck off the coast of the island early Saturday morning.
As of Monday, there have been no more reports of missing persons in the areas affected by the quake, but teams from various institutions are "still sweeping the areas" to find possible victims, the spokesman said.
Some 1,600 aftershocks have been recorded, according to Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency.
Flores was hit by a similarly strong earthquake and tsunami waves in 1992 that killed over 2,000 people. Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.
