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PADANG, Indonesia - The death toll from a strong earthquake and a powerful aftershock that hit Indonesia's Sumatra island yesterday has risen to about 70.
Hundreds of people have been forced to camp out in tents or open fields after their homes were flattened.
As night fell, authorities said dozens were feared still trapped under the rubble in West Sumatra province.
Tremors from the initial 6.3 magnitude earthquake were felt as far away as Malaysia and Singapore, where several buildings were evacuated.
Hospitals in some areas were overwhelmed with dozens of injured. Many people fled their homes and fears of aftershocks pushed authorities in Padang, the West Sumatra provincial capital, to set up emergency tents at a football field.
"I thought it was a big vehicle passing through in front of the house," Misbadi, a 50-year-old Solok resident who broke his right arm, said. "I ran out of the house, but I was hit by a collapsing building."
Television footage showed staff from a hospital rushing out in panic while others wept in fear as tremors shook a building.
The provincial co-ordinating unit for disaster management said 69 people were killed and Solok district was the worst hit with 19 deaths. Yohannes Dahlan, secretary of the West Sumatra government, said around 200 people had been injured.
The government sent in the military to assist with rescue efforts. The Red Cross also deployed a rapid response team to assess the damage and needs of victims.
The quakes affected power supply to the area, forcing rescue teams to temporarily halt search efforts.
"I cannot predict how many people are still trapped because the process is still on. However, there are many houses collapsed, and I believe that the inhabitants are in them," Solok town mayor Syamsu Rahim told Reuters.
He said about 500 people had been displaced and the local government had set up emergency tents for survivors.
Some residents in three badly hit areas of West Sumatra -- Solok, Tanah Datar and Padang Panjang -- erected tents outside their homes, moved in with relatives or prepared to spend the night in schools and mosques.
The government and Red Cross distributed food supplies such as cooking oil and rice, tents and medicine and drinking water.
United Nations aid agencies said a team of health, sanitation and nutrition experts would soon arrive in the affected area to assess the situation.
"Armed forces have set up field kitchens, health services and field tents, as well as a field hospital in Solok district to assist the affected persons," the UN said.
The first quake of magnitude 6.3 was felt in Padang at around 11am local time, sparking panic among seaside residents, who feared it might trigger a tsunami.
The United States Geological Survey said the first quake's epicentre was around 420km from Singapore. The Indonesian national quake centre measured the quake at 5.8.
A second 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck the same area two hours later.
Padang is one of the few Indonesian cities where a tsunami warning system is in place. A quake in the Indian Ocean off Sumatra island in December 2004 and the tsunami it caused left about 170,000 people dead or missing in northern Aceh province.
"I panicked, I ran out of the house just like the other neighbours," housewife Asmiarti, whose home is on the northern Padang shore, told Reuters by phone. "We feared there would be a tsunami, but there has been no announcement so far."
Earthquakes are frequent in Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country. Its 17,000 islands sprawl along a belt of intense volcanic and seismic activity, part of what is called the "Pacific Ring of Fire".
In March 2005, a quake killed hundreds on Nias island, off the west coast of northern Sumatra.
- REUTERS
