I am sharing with you the update about the news of the current situation on tourism sector after the earthquake that hit Flores on August 15th with a magnitudo of 7,7. The news is reported from my office in Ruteng, one of the areas in Flores where the damages of the earthquake was badly damaged including the public service buildings, The Regency office of Manggarai, Public hospital, University, NTT Regional Bank, huge numbers of house damages.
The impact of the earthquake did not only affect damages to the building but it also caused the loss of life. There have been 105 people killed per August 27 according to the National Agency for Disaster Countermeasure, 1.678 people got injured, 179.037 people still stay in the emergency tents. Besides the physical damages, the impact of the earthquake also affects the psychological condition that many people are traumatized and are afraid to go back to work because the number of the aftershocks are still continuing more than 5.000 already (source) since the main shock on the 15th of August 2026.
What’s Happened with the Tourism Sector in Flores after the Earthquake?
Some tourist spots on Flores were closed due to the impact of the earthquake. Here is the list of the tourist spots that were closed and their current status (From east to west). One of the main highlights is Kelimutu crater lakes in Ende Regency city. It was closed for 10 days and reopened on August 25 2026 as you can see their official post on Instagram. In Bajawa there were two spots that were closed and all of them have been opened to the public since August 26th. Those places are Inerie Mountain hike and Mengeruda hot spring. As for Riung, the north part of Bajawa or north Flores area, it is not recommended to do any type of tourist activities since the epicenter of the earthquake is not far from this town. So, for those who want to explore Riung 17 Island marine park, you should wait till it is really safe to do, it might take a while to get recovered because the number of damages in the area is quiet significant.
In Ruteng, the tourist spot that remains closed till now is Wae Rebo traditional village and Liang Bua Cave. Other than those places, traveler could still visit places like Todo or Ruteng Pu’u as an ideal alternative to Wae Rebo, spider web rice field, and the traditional market.
Labuan Bajo, the main entrance to Flores and Komodo National Park was on a tsunami alert within a few seconds after the earthquake. However, the alert was lifted and back to normal up till now. The tourism activities in this area are undoubtedly the busiest one in the island of Flores although there was one accommodation reported having some damages on their building, it is Jayakarta hotel, located at the south part of Labuan Bajo city.
Trans Flores Road
The trans Flores road that we love to call Flores highway spanning for 650 km from Labuan on the west to Larantuka further east was badly damaged soon after the earthquake hit. As we recall this tragedy, we had two land tours that were still going on that day. We could not make it till the tour finished as expected because some of the roads cracked and were blocked by landslides, especially the road from Bajawa to Ende, Ende to Moni, and Ruteng to Bajawa. Somehow, the government could do the best possible way to get all vehicles past this obstacles and now the highway is back to normal right the day after the disaster.
Airport in Flores
From 6 available airports in Flores, the airport in Ende was the one that was hit badly by the earthquake according to the news they posted on August 17th 2026 through instagram. They had to cancel all flights to this airport and according to their latest Instagram post, they have started to serve the departure and arrival of flights again now. Other than Ende, all is running normal despites the fact that there is still an issue about the eruption of Lewotobi Laki-laki since December 2023. All travelers should follow the news and Instagram is one you should check because they post their official updates through this platform.
