A dawn earthquake killed more than 3,000 people around the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta on Saturday, burying many under the rubble of their homes in a scene survivors said was like the end of the world.
As night fell, terrified residents huddled outside their ruined houses or in the grounds of mosques, churches and schools in the heartland of Indonesia's main island of Java.
"It's pitch dark. We have to use candles and we are sitting outside now. We are too scared to sleep inside. The radio keeps saying there will be more quakes. We still feel the tremors," said Tjut Nariman on the outskirts of Yogyakarta.
The 6.2 magnitude quake struck at the crack of dawn when many were still in bed. It was the third major tremor to hit Indonesia in 18 months, the worst being the quake on December 26, 2004 and its resulting tsunami which left some 170,000 people dead or missing.
Indonesia sits on the Asia-Pacific marked by heavy volcanic and tectonic activity.
"Buildings shook like pendulums, I thought it was Armageddon," said cab driver Ngadiman, who was at work when the quake struck.
Many bodies remained buried under rubble as authorities struggled to get aid into the region. Several countries offered medical relief teams and emergency supplies. The wards and corridors of Sarjito hospital in Yogyakarta city were crammed with injured survivors. Many more lay on the hard ground outside under the night sky.
Farmer Karjiman from Bantul town lay in a corridor with his injured wife and three-year-old daughter. "My daughter here was buried under the rubble. We got her out, but we could not save my other daughter ... it was just horrible," he said.
The death toll had reached 3,002 by the late Saturday night, said the Social Affairs Ministry's disaster task force.
Bantul town, about 25 km (15 miles) south of Yogyakarta city, was hit hardest. One official said the Bantul region accounted for more than 2,000 of the dead.
In the outskirts of Yogyakarta, telephone services were erratic and many houses were razed. Electricity had not resumed by nightfall and many people burned sticks and shrubs for light. Yogyakarta's airport was shut because of a damaged runway.
FEAR The epicentre of the quake, which struck just before 6 am (2300 GMT), was offshore. Many near the coast feared it would be followed by a tsunami and fled for higher ground. No tsunami came but the fear lingered into the night.
Yogyakarta is near Mount Merapi, a volcano on top alert for a major eruption. A vulcanologist said the volcano did not cause the quake, but its activity had increased after the shock.
Yogyakarta is about 25 km (15 miles) north of the Indian Ocean coast and 440 km (275 miles) east of Jakarta. Yogyakarta province, which includes the city, has a population of 3.2 million. Central Java province also suffered damage.
The largest Buddhist monument on earth, Borobudur, was left untouched but several structures nearby collapsed, said staff at a hotel nearby. The temple 40 km (25 miles) from the city was built some 1,200 years ago.
At Solo airport, schoolteacher Muhammad Yusan told Reuters he had left Aceh, more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) away, on Saturday morning to try to reach his family in Bantul.
"I lost my father, aunt and niece, but I can't confirm the rest because I can't get hold of them," Yusan said. "I think Bantul is flattened because most houses there are poorly built and old."
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited Bantul and Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari said medical teams had been sent to the hardest-hit areas. The European Union, the United States, Japan and Unicef were among those to offer immediate aid.
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