Rescue teams struggled today to reach scores of people trapped under debris and survivors pleaded for aid after a powerful quake hit the Indonesian city of Padang, possibly killing thousands.
The 7.6 magnitude quake struck the bustling port city of 900,000 people yesterday, toppling hundreds of buildings. Telephone connections were patchy, making it difficult for officials to work out the extent of destruction and loss of life.
The United Nations' humanitarian chief John Holmes said the latest figures "suggest the death toll has risen
already to 1,100" and that there are "many hundreds of injured people as well".
He said he feared thousands more were trapped in the rubble of homes, hotels, hospitals and schools destroyed or badly damaged.
A Reuters reporter in Padang said rescuers were pulling people from buildings, but there was little sign of much aid being distributed yet. Fuel was also in short supply and there was a report of looting, while some shops had run out of food.
Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari told reporters at an airport in Jakarta before leaving for Padang that the number of dead could be numbered in the thousands, given the widespread damage.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who arrived back from the G20 meeting on today, told reporters the country could coordinate the relief efforts but welcomed help from abroad.
Australia, South Korea and Japan were among countries offering aid or help.
Two Indonesian Hercules transport planes carrying medical aid, as well as 20,000 tents and 10,000 blankets, also flew to Padang today, the state Antara news agency reported.
A 6.6 magnitude quake hit another part of Sumatra island today, causing fresh panic but no reported deaths. The second quake's epicentre was about 225 km southeast of Padang, the US Geological Survey said. Local radio reported that 12 people were hurt in the town of Jambi and 60 houses damaged.
A two storey clinic at Padang's main hospital collapsed but was empty at the time after closing a few hours before the quake. Patients from adjacent wards were evacuated to nearby tents, while a makeshift morgue was also setup in the open air with lines of corpses placed in yellow body bags.
Operations were being conducted in nearby white tents.
"We have done hundreds of operations since the earthquake," said Dr Nofli Ichlas. "Some broken bones, some with limbs completely cut off. Fractured skulls, abdominal trauma too."
Heavy rain initially hampered rescue efforts and officials said power had been cut in Padang, which lies on a coastal plain and is surrounded by steep mountains that stretch far inland.
Damage to roads had affected transport of rubber in West Sumatra, the fifth-largest producing province for rubber in Indonesia.
Sumatra also has some of Indonesia's largest oil fields as well as a liquefied natural gas terminal, but there were no reports of damage at those facilities.
Sumatra is one of the world's most seismically active places. A 9.15 magnitude quake, its epicentre 600 km northwest of Padang, caused the 2004 tsunami that killed 230,000 people in Indonesia and other Asian countries.
Padang's airport was operating, although many people were camping out on prayer mats as they tried to flee the city, while soldiers and aid groups such as the Red Crescent arrived.
Agencies