It said in a statement the seven died when an earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter Scale hit at 6:05 am (2105 GMT Thursday).

The quake, centred about seven kilometres (four miles) from Nabire town in Papua's northwest, damaged buildings including the local hospital.

"Nabire Hospital was heavily damaged, with the result that patients must be put in an emergency tent," the statement said.

The quake also felled trees and damaged several houses and at least one bridge, the agency said. Walls and roads cracked in the quake which was also felt in Manokwari, 120 kilometres northwest of Nabire.

Officials in Nabire could not be reached by telephone but one local resident said it struck while his family of eight slept.

"We all ran behind the house because the land is quite expansive there," Muhammad Holil Az'ari, 25, a student, told AFP.

He said his house suffered only minor damage but a neighbouring home under construction was not as fortunate.

"It's totally destroyed," he said, before leaving to help his neighbours who were living inside the partially-built house.

"They are safe," Az'ari said.

He said he was too afraid to see how extensive the damage was elsewhere in town, but he heard that churches had been damaged, and local residents told him there are victims.

Daud Sihombing, police spokesman in Indonesia's easternmost province, said he had not yet received a report on the latest quake. "The frequency of earthquakes has been increasing in Papua lately," he said.

France's earth sciences observatory in Strasbourg said it was the largest quake measured in the region since 2000.

The Indonesian archipelago is one of the world's most earthquake-prone regions. It sits on the "Pacific Rim of Fire" noted for its volcanic and seismic activity.

A quake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale shook parts of the Maluku islands in eastern Indonesia on January 29 but there were no reports of major damage or casualties.

On January 2 parts of the holiday islands of Bali and Lombok were hit by a quake measuring 6.1, which damaged more than 6,000 buildings and caused financial losses of 12 million dollars.

TERRA.WIRE