International media outlets report more than 90 people are dead after an earthquake shook Indonesia's Aceh province Wednesday morning.
The earthquake damaged many homes, mosques and shops in the district of Pidie Jaya.
Many people had to be treated in tents pitched on the grounds of the nearest hospital after the building was damaged in the quake. In addition to the damage, the facility was already overwhelmed with the numbers of those injured, according to The Associated Press.
The director of the hospital in Pidie Jaya, Muhammad Reza Faisal, said five of the quake victims died at the hospital. The total death has risen to 97.
A 6.4 magnitude earthquake hit Indonesia, according to reports.
The tremor hit the Indian Ocean Wednesday morning around 150 kilometers from the coast of Aceh.
According to BBC, a spokesman for Indonesia’s national disaster agency said more than 200 shops and homes had been destroyed, along with 14 mosques. A hospital and school were also badly damaged.
Said Mulyadi, deputy district chief of Pidie Jaya, the region hit hardest by the quake, told BBC's Indonesian Service that the death toll could rise.
He told the AFP news agency that several children were among the dead and that local hospitals had been overwhelmed.
Pidie Jaya is along the north coast of Aceh, and has a population of about 150,000. It is about 110 kilometers from the provincial capital of Banda Aceh.
Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra island, was devastated by a massive earthquake and tsunami centered on its western coast near the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, on December 26, 2004.
Wednesday's quake was centered on the east coast, about 169 kilometers from Banda Aceh.
The United States Geological Survey said the quake struck just after 5 a.m. local time at a depth of 17.7 kilometers on Aceh's northeastern coast.
Indonesia is prone to earthquakes because it lies on the Ring of Fire – the line of frequent quakes and volcanic eruptions that circles virtually the entire Pacific rim.
