Thousands of evacuees yesterday waited for help on Indonesia’s Flores island after a powerful earthquake killed 48 people, injured dozens and damaged hundreds of houses and buildings.

Some 5,000 people fled their homes as the 7.7-magnitude quake hit the island early Saturday, followed by 341 aftershocks in the hours that followed, a spokesman for the BNPB national disaster agency, Berton Suar Pelita Panjaitan, said.

People in some areas were left without electricity and telecommunications and at least one emergency access road remained inaccessible.

“We need food, drink, medicines, and diapers for the children,” Umri, a resident of Nangahale village on the north coast of Flores, told AFP on Sunday morning.

The 55-year-old has been hiding out on a hilltop for 24 hours with others afraid to return home.

Nurhidayati, also 55, spent the night on a mat on the same hill. Flores was struck by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake in 1992 that triggered a tsunami and killed about 2,500 people.