Four killed as quake strikes Indonesia's Papua

By Telly Nathalia and Andreas Ismar

JAKARTA (Reuters) - A series of powerful earthquakes off the northern coast of West Papua, Indonesia, early on Sunday killed four people, injured several others and flattened buildings, officials and local television said.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said a magnitude 7.6 quake occurred some 150 km (95 miles) northeast of Manokwari in the Indonesian half of the island of New Guinea, at a depth of 35 km (21.7 miles). An official at Indonesia's meteorology agency said there were several quakes in the area during the night.

"Hotel Mutiara and tens of houses are flattened to the ground," Pitsau Amafnini, an eyewitness, told Reuters.

However, an important BP-led liquefied natural gas (LNG) project close to the area was not affected, a BP spokesman told Reuters.

Local media reported that the health, social, public works and transport ministers flew to the affected area, to take medicine, food, tents and cash for victims, and to inspect the local airport following a report that it had been damaged.

Manokwari, with a population of about 161,000, is in a remote, sparsely-populated part of Papua which attracts tourists thanks to its diving sites, wildlife including birds of paradise, and spectacular scenery.

Predominantly Christian Papua, which occupies the western half of New Guinea island, has fewer than 3 million inhabitants out of Indonesia's total population of 226 million.

Several different tribes, some animist, live in this part of Indonesia, which was under Dutch rule until 1963 and which, despite its vast natural resources, tropical forests, and mineral wealth, remains one of the poorest and least developed parts of the country.