Some 65 people were injured by the quake, which damaged the hospital, airstrip and several other buildings in the northwestern town of Nabire.

"We'll see how things progress," said Papua police spokesman Daud Sihombing, who gave the death and injury toll.

"In a disaster of this magnitude, it's quite possible that there could be more victims."

Police were helping relatives search for loved ones in the ruins of homes, he said, adding that 23 of the injured were admitted to hospital.

The quake, measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale, struck at 6:05 amThursday) about seven kilometres (four miles) from Nabire.

The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency in Jakarta said the town's hospital was badly damaged and patients were moved to a tent.

The quake, lasting between 10 and 30 seconds, also felled trees and damaged several houses and at least one bridge, it said in a statement.

Walls and roads cracked in the quake which was also felt in Manokwari, 120 kilometres northwest of Nabire.

Fauzi, co-ordinator of the National Earthquake Centre, said the town's airstrip was cracked and it was not clear if planes could land.

"Our officials and those from the health department are ready to go but are waiting to find out whether that airfield can be used," he said in a radio interview.

Dodi Indrasanto, a senior health department official, said a five-member team from the Papua Health Agency had left the provincial capital Jayapura for Nabire in a small Cessna aircraft, which he expected could land even if the airstrip were damaged.

They would assess what help was needed.

Papua, Indonesia's easternmost province, is mountainous or jungle-clad and sparsely populated. Roads are scarce and many areas can only be reached by air.

Officials in Nabire could not be reached by telephone but one local resident said the quake 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 but escaped safely.

Fauzi said, "So far there have been nine relatively strong aftershocks that were felt in Nabire."

Fear of aftershocks has forced residents to move into tents, said Ari Samuel Rihi, another Nabire resident.

Rihi, a local government worker, told SCTV television that the local parliament building which opened less than a month ago was badly damaged.

"It was in a serious condition and maybe can't be used again," Rihi 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 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