A magnitude 7.7 earthquake rocked a 1,240-mile swathe of Indonesia for two minutes, sending panicked residents fleeing to higher ground, fearful of a tsunami.

An Australian navy helicopter carrying up to 11 people crashed today on the earthquake-devastated Indonesian island of Nias, and it was reported that nine people were killed.

A man crying out weakly for water was found buried under the rubble of a shop today, more than four days after a devastating earthquake near Indonesia’s Nias Island, rescuers said.

International rescuers abandoned their search today for survivors among the rubble of wrecked homes in the main city of the Indonesian island that bore the brunt of a powerful earthquake four days ago.

RESCUERS raced to pull survivors from collapsed buildings and deliver urgently needed food and water yesterday as strong aftershocks rattled earthquake-devastated islands in northern Indonesia.

SURVIVORS combed the rubble of buildings for loved ones on Indonesia's earthquake-devastated Nias island yesterday as reports emerged of hundreds of additional deaths on a nearby island group.

Firefighters freed a man who was pinned for 36 hours in the wreckage of a collapsed building, as other earthquake survivors on Indonesia’s Nias island searched frantically for loved ones missing amid the rubble.

Officials estimate 1,000 people have died since Monday’s 8.7-magnitude quake, and said Indonesia would welcome foreign military help for its latest disaster.

CANDLES flickered at the heads of about 20 corpses, wrapped in white sheets on the street outside the Santa Maria church in the devastated town of Gunung Sitoli on Nias, the Indonesian isle known as a surfers’ paradise.

Candles flickered at the heads of about 20 corpses, lying in the street wrapped in white sheets outside the Santa Maria church in the devastated main town on Nias, the Indonesian isle known as a surfers' paradise.

A powerful 8.7-magnitude earthquake hammered Indonesia’s west coast, collapsing homes and burying sleeping residents inside and sparking panic across Indian Ocean countries still traumatised by the tsunami disaster three months ago. Death toll estimates varied widely, from about 200 to 10 times that number.

A major earthquake struck late today off the west coast of Indonesia, and police said hundreds of people may have been killed in collapsed buildings.

Dozens of bloated bodies littered the streets of Banda Aceh city today as soldiers and volunteers searched for survivors of an earthquake and tidal waves that killed more than 5,000 people in Indonesia.

Dozens of bloated bodies littered the streets of Indonesia’s Banda Aceh city today as soldiers and desperate relatives searched for survivors of an earthquake and tidal waves that killed at least 4,491 people.

TIDAL waves swamped towns in northwestern Indonesia close to the epicentre of yesterday’s massive undersea earthquake, killing at least 4,185 people and leaving corpses wedged in trees as waters receded, the health ministry and witnesses said.

TOWNS nearest the epicentre of yesterday’s massive earthquake were levelled by tidal waves, killing at least 4,185 people and leaving bodies wedged in trees as the waters receded, officials and witnesses said.

Hundreds of people reported missing after floods and landslides killed at least 35 on a remote Indonesian island have turned up safe.