Jakarta: A 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia's north and west Sumatra provinces today (Dec18, 2006) killing at least four people and damaging a number of homes, officials said.

The quake occurred at about 4:39 a.m. local time (2139 GMT Sunday), 53 km underground, said Fauzi, an official at Aceh's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency.

A resident of north Sumatra's Mandailing Natal district toldJakarta's Elshinta private radio station that at least four people were killed by the quake, one house collapsed and many others were damaged.

Indonesia, the world largest archipelago nation, sits on the Pacific 'Ring of Fire,' where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.

On December 2004, a magnitude 9.0-quake generated a tsunami that devastated coastlines around the Indian Ocean and left more than 220,000 people dead or missing.