8,000+ children face education disruptions after earthquake

Around 50 people have died, although casualties are likely to rise, and thousands have been displaced following the earthquake.

While the full extent of the destruction is still unfolding, more than 900 homes were damaged by the quake and hundreds of aftershocks. Essential public infrastructure has also been affected, including 87 education facilities and 18 healthcare centres, disrupting services critical to children's well-being.

A second 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck off the country’s western island of Sumatra, underscoring Indonesia's vulnerability to seismic activity, being located on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”.

Agus*, 46, and his wife Euis*, 39, who are both visually impaired, told Save the Children how they raced to save their six-month-old son when the quake struck the highland town of Ruteng on Flores Island. The family lives at a special-needs school, where Euis works as a teacher.

Agus said:

“Once we reached the backyard, the shaking grew much stronger. At its peak, I couldn't even stand up. I held onto my child, my wife, and my mother-in-law. My wife couldn't hold onto me tightly because she had to hold the baby. So I spread my feet wide and tried my best to wrap my arms around all of them. We managed to hold that position for about a minute because the quake was so violent.”

Save the Children is assessing the needs of affected children and families in East Nusa Tenggara with a local partner organisation in order to launch a response.

The earthquake struck against a backdrop of existing challenges, including an El Niño-driven drought and ongoing volcanic risks linked to Mount Lewotobi. The cumulative impact of these successive disasters threatens children’s health, protection, education and psychosocial well-being.

Fadli Usman, Humanitarian and Resilience Director at Save the Children Indonesia, said:

“This deadly earthquake has caused a lot of pain and damage, while exacerbating existing vulnerabilities caused by recurrent disasters in Flores. Children are among the most at risk. Protecting their well-being and future requires more than addressing their immediate needs; it requires sustained investment in recovery and resilience. Together with our local partner organisation, CIS Timor, we are working towards supporting affected children and families.”

Immediate priorities include ensuring children have access to education and supporting the livelihoods of families in order to prevent loss of learning, malnutrition, child labour, early marriage and other protection risks, added Usman.

Alongside life-saving support, Save the Children said that equal priority must be given to restoring essential services, strengthening family and community resilience, and creating opportunities for children to recover from the earthquake.

Save the Children has been working in Indonesia since 1976, responding to major humanitarian disasters like the 2004 tsunami and the 2018 Sulawesi earthquake.

* Names changed to protect identity