A quake that struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra killed at least seven people, injured 150 and brought down hundreds of homes, local officials and police said on Monday.
Three aftershocks sent residents rushing out of their homes in the region, where memories of the 2004 tsunami, which devastated Aceh further to the north, are still fresh.
Rescuers were trying to reach 20 villages that were cut off by landslides triggered by the 5,7-magnitude quake, police said.
The epicentre of the quake, which hit at 4.39am local time, was 150km south-east of Sibolga at the relatively shallow depth of 17,7km, geologists said.
Eddy Syofian, information chief in the North Sumatra provincial government, said the death toll was seven with 150 injured, according to the detikcom news portal.
Police in Panyabungan, bordering South and West Sumatra, earlier said that a family of four was killed after their home collapsed in Tamiyang village about 65m away.
The quake also damaged a large number of homes, while key roads were blocked by landslides, local police chief Rudi Sumarardiyanto said.
”I’m unable to go to Tamiyang to get first-hand information on the situation. Local residents have come out to help clear the road and we have deployed two tractors,” he said.
Twenty villages out of 23 in the worst-hit district of Muara Sipongi were cut off, district police chief Pulongan said.
The fate of the residents was unknown and officials had not been able to make contact with them, he said.
Pulongan said 250 homes were damaged and 16 people suffered minor injuries in the three villages that were accessible.
Electricity supplies had been cut and landslides and rain were hampering rescue operations by about 100 police and soldiers.
”We have set up temporary shelters for those who have lost their homes and are providing them food,” he said.
The quake was also felt 540km away in Singapore, the city-state’s environment agency said.
Singapore local radio reported receiving calls from residents, who reported that their apartments were shaken by the tremor.
The quake followed just half an hour after a 5,8-magnitude earthquake hit the north of Sumatra.
The first quake struck at 4.10am local time, with its epicentre under the Indian Ocean south-southwest of Banda Aceh.
”These are moderate earthquakes,” said Budiwaluyo, head of the earthquake information unit with the meteorology headquarters here.
He said no tsunami warning was issued for the first quake as it was below 6,3 magnitude.
The Indonesian archipelago sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire where continental plates meet, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity.
Indonesia was the nation worst hit by the earthquake-triggered Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004, which killed about 168 000 people in Aceh province on the northern tip of Sumatra.
A 7,7-magnitude earthquake in July on the south coast of the main island of Java also killed more than 600 people. — AFP
