A Sumatra earthquake caused severe damage and left hundreds injured and at least 11 dead when a mosque collapsed.
A strong 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia's Aceh province on the tip of Sumatra on Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The quake struck at a depth of 6 miles, with the epicenter located 34 miles west of the town of Bireun on the Sumatra island, the Associated Press reports.
The quake caused significant damage as houses were reduced to rubble, landslides wee set off and roads were damaged.
At least six children were killed and 14 others were trapped when a mosque collapsed during a Koran reading session in the province. This incident brings the death toll to 11.
Rescuers are still trying to find the children that are trapped inside the mosque in Blang Mancung village.
"Our search and rescue teams are struggling to evacuate an estimated 14 children still trapped under the rubble," Subhan Sahara, the head of the local disaster management agency, told AFP. "I hope they can be found alive but the chances are very slim."
At least ten houses were severely damaged and five were injured in Takengon, the capital of Central Aceh district.
"I see many houses were damaged and their roofs fell onto some people," Bensu Elianita, a 22 year-old resident in Bukit Sama village in Central Aceh district said according to Yahoo. "Many people were injured but it is difficult to evacuate them due to traffic jams."
Elianita recalled everyone in the village running out of their houses and screaming for help. The quake also caused a blackout in the area.
Indonesia is an earthquake prone area as it is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Ocean. In 2004, a large quake off the coast of Aceh set off a tsunami that killed 230,000 people throughout Asia.
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