The 7.6-magnitude earthquake, which hit just off the coast of Western Sumatra province early in the morning, also triggered a landslide which cut off land access to the town. 

Thousands of people are expected to spend the night in the open before a full assessment of the damage can be made in the morning.

Aburizal Bakrie, Indonesia’s welfare minister, said authorities should prepare for the worst, adding damage could be on a par with an earthquake in Yogyakarta, central Java, in 2006 that killed 5,000 people and damaged or destroyed 150,000 homes.

‘Very strong’

“The earthquake was very strong,” Kasmiati, who lives on the coast near to the epicentre, told The Associated Press news agency.

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