Nearly 40 dead after powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake strikes Indonesia

Nearly 40 people have died after a powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia.

Tremors hit eastern Indonesia in the early hours on Saturday, causing buildings to be collapsed into dust and rubble.

The governor of East Nusa Tenggara Province, Emanuel Melkiades Laka Lena, said five people had died from collapsing rubble in their sleep.

Earlier, the national disaster mitigation agency BNPB said one person had died and four other had been injured.

Video filmed at a port in Maumere showed large chunks of concrete breaking off the terminal building as passengers fled the devastating scene.

Search and rescue workers in the town dug and saw through debris to retrieve people caught in the rubble.

It is unclear if the five people who have died are the previously four injured people.

The Indonesian agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics said the quake struck the Flores region in East Nusa Tenggara shortly before 5.00 local time.

Around 50,000 people felt very strong or severe shaking, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

At least 2,000 residents of Nageko were evacuated from their homes after the tremors as a precautionary measure, according to the BNPB.

"The quake was massive, the shock was so strong, we were resting at home with family," Nona, a 51-year-old resident of Talibura, a village in the region told Reuters.

"There were 13 of us inside the house and we all ran to save ourselves."

Tsunami warnings were quickly declared, but were later dropped.

Reports of shaking were also felt in West Nusa Tenggara and parts of South Sulawesi, with tremors lasting around one minute, according to the BNPB.

Arnold Welianto, who lives in Talibura village, Sikka, East Nusa Tenggara, said he was still asleep when he felt "very strong shaking".

He told the BBC: "I was startled awake and immediately went to my child's room.

"Once we were outside, residents in our neighbourhood, which is located close to the shoreline, had already fled their homes and were heading toward the hills and crowding the roads, while some other residents were standing along the roadside because the sea had also receded."

He said many in the village were still outdoors and were afraid of returning to their homes as a result of ongoing aftershocks.

A hospital in the Ende district was forced to move patients outside from the shaking, footage from Kompas TV showed.

Indonesia's national disaster management agency said it was focusing on prioritising public safety and preventing additional casualties from aftershocks and other hazards.

A helicopter has been deployed because the landscape of the area - which consists of many islands - makes access challenging.