A string of powerful earthquakes have rattled Indonesia leaving at least one dead and dozens injured, and triggering panic in the nation hardest hit by the 2004 Asian tsunami.
Indonesian authorities cancelled a tsunami alert issued after the first of several strong quakes early this morning, but by then thousands of people had fled their homes and were thronging roads leading from the coast.
A 7.6-magnitude quake hit before dawn about 150km northwest of Manokwari, the main city in the province of West Papua.
A 7.5-magnitude aftershock and a procession of smaller quakes, one as strong as magnitude 6.1, later rattled the region, according to US and Indonesian seismological authorities.
A ten-year-old girl was killed when a wall collapsed and at least 52 people suffered a variety of injuries, 37 of them in Manokwari.
One of the main tourist hotels in Manokwari was toppled and at least three people were pulled out of the rubble alive.
Electricity in the city was down, and cracks could be seen in local buildings.
In Sorong town, around 350km west of Manokwari at least four houses were levelled and 15 people were injured, according to reports.
