BIREUEN, Indonesia -- A strong undersea earthquake rocked Indonesia's Aceh province early today, killing at least 54 people and causing dozens of buildings to collapse.
A frantic rescue effort involving dozens of villagers, soldiers and police was underway in Meureudu, a severely affected town in Pidie Jaya district. Three excavators were trying to remove debris from shops where three people were believed buried, said Suyatno, who heads Aceh's search and rescue agency.
District Police Chief Aiyub Abbas said hundreds of people in the district were injured and more than 40 buildings including mosques, stores and homes were flattened. The district is 11 miles southwest of the epicenter.
Abbas said 25 people had been killed in Pidie Jaya district alone. A local health office said eight were young children.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the shallow 6.4-magnitude earthquake that struck at 5:03 a.m. Indonesia time was centered about 6 miles north of Reuleut, a town in northern Aceh, at a depth of 11 miles.
In the nearby district of Bireuen, a teacher at an Islamic building school died after being hit by falling debris, said health worker Achmad Taufiq.
The world's largest archipelago, Indonesia is prone to earthquakes because of its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.
A Section on 12/07/2016