Fears for villagers after Indonesia quake

Around 100 people were missing today and at least four killed after a powerful earthquake hit western Indonesia.

A spokesman for the Health Ministry’s crisis centre said today that a 10-foot wave washed away hundreds of houses in two coastal villages on Pagai and Silabu, part of the Mentawai island chain, yesterday..

Details of the damage and casualties were only just surfacing because it took 12 hours for rescue and check teams to reach the remote Mentawais.

A disaster management agency official said tsunami water levels reached the height of roof tops.

A search is going on for 103 people. It was uncertain if they were washed away are fled to safety in the hills.