Jakarta, Aug. 15 -- Indonesia's government stepped up monitoring and emergency preparedness after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) on Saturday, prompting tsunami warnings in several coastal areas.

State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi said he had coordinated with officials to ensure all relevant agencies were prepared to respond during the initial aftermath of the earthquake.

"Since this morning, I have coordinated with the coordinating minister for human development and culture, the heads of Basarnas (National Search and Rescue Agency), BMKG (Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency), and BNPB (National Disaster Mitigation Agency), as well as the NTT governor," Hadi said in Jakarta.

The government was monitorin...