Wednesday, March 30 2005 09:40 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Nias Island (Indonesia): Rescuers said yesterday (Mar 29, 2005) that more than 1,000 people are feared to have died when a huge earthquake hit this northwest Indonesian Island, triggering tsunami warnings, which caused panic across the Indian Ocean.

The epicentre of the quake measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale was just 320 kilometres from that of the December 26 quake, which sent giant waves crashing into 12 nations, killing over 2,73,000 people.

"About a third of Gunung Sitoli, the main town in Nias, is reported to have undergone the heaviest damage. It is estimated that more than 1,000 people in Nias Island died," the Indonesian Red Cross said in a statement.

A team from Oxfam International reported widespread damage.

"The devastation is obvious as soon as you land," said team member Alessandra Villas-Boas. "Bodies are being pulled from the rubble as I speak."

Some 20,000 people in Gunung Sitoli were without water, the electricity grid was also out of order and roads were badly damaged, the team said.

Presidential envoy T B Silalahi, who flew there by helicopter for a brief visit, estimated that around 25 or 30 percent of the town was damaged.

Indonesian officials said at least 430 people had been confirmed dead on Nias and neighbouring Simeulue Island off northwest Sumatra.

Budi Atmaji Adiputro, chief of staff at the National Coordinating Disaster Relief Agency, said 330 people had been found dead on Nias, an Island of 700,000 people, which is popular with surfers.

"I expect the number to increase because to collect bodies we have to sift through the rubble," he told agencies.

The head of the health office in Sumatra's Aceh province, Mulya Hasjmy, told agencies that a disaster taskforce in Simeulue had accounted for 100 dead.

The undersea quake struck just before midnight on Monday (Mar 28, 2005) about 200 kilometres off the west coast of Sumatra and prompted Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Thailand, among others, to issue warnings of imminent tsunamis.

Alerts rang out on television and radio, while police and local residents tried to shepherd people to safety away from the coast towards high ground.

While the giant tsunamis never materialised, the earthquake caused widespread destruction on Nias, which is still rebuilding after the December 26 disaster.

Survivors - frail, weeping and swathed in bloody bandages - described how they were trapped by falling rubble when the giant tremor struck.

Some 20 people, mostly suffering from broken bones, deep cuts and bruises were flown from Nias aboard two UN helicopters to the Sumatra Island city of Sibolga, where they were transferred to hospital.