Tearful parents searched today for missing children and soldiers dug through the debris of homes flattened by the second tsunami to hit Indonesia in as many years.

A trickle of aid began reaching survivors of the Indonesian earthquake that killed more than 5,400 over the weekend, but desperate villagers said today the meagre deliveries were not enough.

The first UN flight arrived today in Indonesia’s earthquake zone carrying water, tents, stoves and cooking sets, as the death toll from the disaster climbed to nearly 5,000.

Indonesia’s Mount Merapi belched out massive clouds of black smoke and sent lava flows shooting from its crater, but villagers ignored the dangers of an imminent eruption and returned to its slopes today to tend their animals and crops.

Authorities are preparing for the possible evacuation of villagers living close to one of Indonesia’s deadliest volcanos after warning that the rumbling mountain could blow its top anytime.

Up to 25,000 villagers have been evacuated from the slopes of a rumbling volcano on Indonesia’s Sumatra Island despite assurances by scientists today that the mountain was calming down.

A strong earthquake rocked parts of North Sulawesi province in north-eastern Indonesia early today, sending sleeping villagers running from their homes, officials and news reports said.

A series of powerful earthquakes have struck Indonesia’s remote Papua province, killing up to 23 people, injuring as many as 600 and destroying hundreds of houses, authorities said.