A powerful earthquake rocked Indonesia's eastern province of Papua on Friday, killing at least 23 people in a coastal town and possibly more in other areas, officials said.
Many people were injured in the early morning quake, which measured 6.9 on the Richter scale. It destroyed several buildings in the town of Nabire, the officials said.
The national earthquake centre put the epicentre just seven km (four miles) from Nabire, where power to the town's 26,000 residents had yet to be restored as night fell.
The quake closed Nabire's airport and many buildings were destroyed or set ablaze. Residents fearing aftershocks said that they had set up tents near their homes to sleep in.
"According to the latest news in the information centre, 23 people died," said Muhamad Son Ani, district police chief in Nabire.
"This is only the report from the city, not counting those outside the city because communication lines are dead," he told Reuters by telephone.
Some media were reporting as many as 29 people killed, but officials in Nabire contacted by Reuters late on Friday said the toll remained at 23.