Businesses reopen after eastern Indonesia earthquake displaced thousands

REO, Indonesia (AP) — Grocery stores, gas stations and other shops reopened Wednesday, four days after a powerful earthquake killed at least 70 people, injured nearly 1,200 others and damaged thousands of homes.

Debris covered streets and searchers continued to dig in the rubble for possible victims, while more than 40,000 people remained in tents, evacuation centers and makeshift shelters.

The earthquake struck shortly before 6 a.m. Saturday off Flores, a remote island in East Nusa Tenggara province and caused widespread destruction across the island, damaging at least 11,925 homes, 182 health facilities, 653 schools, 184 government offices and 173 places of worship, according to the National Disaster Management Agency and other officials.

Immediate food and water needs have been met and local governments in seven regencies hit by the quake have resumed operations “to accelerate post-disaster recovery and serve the community’s administrative needs,” East Nusa Tenggara Gov. Emanuel Melkiades Laka Lena said.

The earthquake struck at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Residents fled in panic as tsunami warnings were issued and later lifted. Authorities recorded more than 2,100 aftershocks through Tuesday, though only 70 were felt by residents.

Thousands of people across the island slept outdoors, fearing aftershocks. The streets remained covered in debris as rescue workers were cleaning up the rubble and mud from a landslide while “anticipating the possibility of discovering more victims,” said Fathur Rahman, the search mission coordinator.

In Maumere, a port city in Sikka regency, markets and gas stations drew large crowds when they reopened. In Reo, a town in the hard-hit Manggarai regency, residents lined up outside a grocery store that only partially opened its doors to limit the number of customers entering.

“Food aid has helped, but it doesn’t cover everything we need for daily life,” said Delvina Panjaitan, who was waiting outside the store. “We still rely on grocery stores and markets, and we need them to be operating again.”

Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions because of its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire. Flores experienced one of the country’s deadliest disasters in 1992, when an earthquake and ensuing tsunami killed about 2,500 people.

Motorists ride their motorbikes near an earthquake-damaged road in North Lamba Leda, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Rescuers inspect the ruins of a mosque that collapsed during an earthquake in North Lamba Leda, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Nicodemus Raja, an earthquake survivor, clears rubble inside his damaged house in North Lamba Leda, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

People sit near a house collapsed during an earthquake in North Lamba Leda, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Arshad Hamid, an earthquake survivor, looks for valuable in his damaged house in North Lamba Leda, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Triple-murderer Erin Patterson appealed her convictions Wednesday for poisoning four of her estranged husband’s relatives with death cap mushrooms.

Three judges of the Victoria state Court of Appeal are hearing her appeal over two days against her convictions on three counts of murder and one of attempted murder relating to a lunch of beef Wellington pastries she prepared at her rural home in Leongatha in July 2023.

Prosecutors are appealing the leniency of her sentence. The 51-year-old was sentenced in September last year to life in prison and must serve at least 33 years behind bars before she can apply for release on parole.

Prosecutors will argue at the hearing Thursday she should be sentenced for life without possibility of parole, Prosecutor Brendan Kissane said.

Defense lawyer Richard Edney’s first ground for appeal Wednesday was an error that resulted in jury members being sequestered in the same hotel as a police witness and members of the prosecution team.

“This was a very serious breach of sequestration,” Edney told the court.

Kissane said there was no evidence to support that ground.

“There was no actual contact between any juror and any other person,” Kissane said.

Another defense lawyer, Veronika Drago, said there was no evidence that Patterson had read online posts that reported death cap mushrooms had been seen near the towns of Loch and Outtrim.

The trial heard evidence from a telecommunications expert that Patterson’s phone connected to towers near Outtrim and Loch.

Drago said the evidence was that Patterson’s phone had possibly been in the area.

“That in and of itself, in our submission, illustrates just how dangerous and unfair that evidence was” on Patterson’s trial, Drago said.

Prosecutor Jeremy McWilliams said the evidence showed that Patterson had an opportunity to deliberately source death cap mushrooms shortly before the lunch.

Another ground for appeal was that Prosecutor Nanette Rogers’ cross-examination of Patterson over five days had been “unfair and oppressive.”

The defense team also argued that trial judge Christopher Bale had caused “unfair prejudice” by allowing evidence from Patterson’s Facebook “friends” into the trial.

Patterson’s estranged husband, Simon Patterson, was invited to the fatal lunch but did not attend.

His parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, died. Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, spent weeks in hospital, but survived.

Patterson argued during her trial that the poisoning was an accident.

Vargo argued a miscarriage of justice occurred when the prosecution opened their case saying there was no evidence of a motive for the poisonings, then closed the case suggesting Patterson's animosity toward her husband's parents and the broader Patterson family was the motive.

Questioned by one of the three judges, Justice Lesley Taylor, Vargo she was not accusing prosecutors of deliberate professional misconduct.

“It is certainly not a direct allegation or suggestion of that, but what is clear in our submission from the reading of all of the material is that where things started and where it finished by the end of the prosecution case were different,” Vargo said.

If Patterson's appeal succeeds, the judges could overturn her convictions and order a retrial.

Patterson did not attend court on Wednesday and watched the hearing by video in prison.

In pretrial testimony only made public after her trial, Simon Patterson said he suspected his wife had deliberately made him seriously ill with dishes. No poisons were ever found.

Erin Patterson was initially charged with three counts of attempting to murder him three times between November 2021 and September 2022. She had denied all charges.

Prosecutors dropped all charges relating to the husband before her trial began in April 2025.

FILE - Erin Patterson is escorted away from the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, on Sept. 8, 2025. (Joel Carrett/AAP Image via AP, File)