Maumere is the largest town of Flores

Flores

Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, an island arc with an estimated area of 14,300 km² extending east from the Java island of Indonesia. The population was 1.831.000 in the 2010 census and the largest town is Maumere. Flores is Portuguese for "flowers".Flores is located east of Sumbawa...

, Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

 and the centre of business. It lies on the north coast of the island and the port is in the northwest part of the town. The Maumere Airport

Maumere Airport

Wai Oti Airport , also known as Maumere Airport, is an airport serving Maumere, the largest town on the island of Flores, in the province of East Nusa Tenggara in Indonesia.-Facilities:...

 is located in Maumere. As of 1992 Maumere had a total population of 70,000.

The town suffered considerable damage in the 1992 Indonesia earthquake

1992 Indonesia earthquake

The 1992 Flores earthquake occurred on December 12, 1992 on the island of Flores in Indonesia. With a magnitude of 7.8, it was the largest and also the deadliest earthquake in 1992.-Description:...

, with 90 percent of all buildings being destroyed.

In 2005, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Maumere was erected in the town.

The reefs in in areas surrounding Maumere (the Maumere Gulf) were once considered some of the finest diving in the world. However, a 2007 report found that 75% of the coral reef

Coral reef

Coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral reefs are colonies of tiny living animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups. The polyps...

s had been significantly damaged or destroyed by the practice of bomb fishing

Blast fishing

Blast fishing or dynamite fishing is the practice of using explosives to stun or kill schools of fish for easy collection. This often illegal practice can be extremely destructive to the surrounding ecosystem, as the explosion often destroys the underlying habitat that supports the fish...

, the use toxic

Toxicity

Toxicity is the degree to which a substance can damage a living or non-living organisms. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a substructure of the organism, such as a cell or an organ , such as the liver...

 chemicals in fishing, and due to earthquake

Earthquake

An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...

s.