JAKARTA (AFP) — A 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck eastern Indonesia on Saturday killed at least 38 people, a disaster management official said, revising an earlier toll.

“Thirty-eight people have been confirmed dead, two were seriously injured, 11 sustained minor injuries, and approximately 2,000 people have evacuated on their own,” National Disaster Mitigation Agency chief Suharyanto told a news conference.

Rescuers combed through debris for survivors Saturday after the earthquake struck off Flores island in eastern Indonesia, sending thousands fleeing.

“I have never felt an earthquake this big,” Yulian Juita Ekalia, who lives in Ruteng city more than 100 kilometers west of the epicenter, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) by telephone.

“It felt like we were on a trampoline; it was really scary,” said the 37-year-old university lecturer, who jolted awake at around 5:30 a.m.

“As I rushed to get outside, everything in the house fell down: the television, my son’s trophies, the dish racks, suitcases on top of the wardrobes. When I got outside, my son and neighbors were already there, screaming in fear.”

Fathur said the focus has shifted to locating victims who may be buried under rubble, but rescue efforts have been complicated by landslides cutting off roads.

Residents in Nagekeo, an area close to the epicenter, raced for higher ground as the sea retreated early Saturday — a possible sign of an approaching tsunami, AFP journalists witnessed.

While a tsunami warning was lifted, authorities urged people not to return to damaged buildings for fear that aftershocks may bring them down.

Many remained outside by lunchtime as dozens of aftershocks continued shaking the island, the strongest measured at a magnitude of 6.1.

‘Panicking’

Yulian said she had dragged her stove outside and was cooking there, fearing further tremors.

Outside a nearby hospital, she said she saw patients being treated under emergency tents.

Seeing images online of her university badly damaged, Yulian said she was “grateful that the quake happened on a Saturday morning when there was no campus activity... I can’t imagine what it would have been like if it happened while we were all there.”

Nagekeo resident Yohanes Babo, 56, said he was at a market when the earth started shaking in the early morning.

“The shaking was strong. Thankfully, we were already outside the house,” he told AFP.

“People were panicking, running here and there. We’re evacuating for the time being... and trying to get to the hills,” he said.

The epicenter of the shallow quake was located just off the north coast of the island, United States and Indonesian authorities said.

The extent of the damage is still being assessed. The area is largely rural with few, if any, high-rise buildings.