More than 90 people died and dozens injured after a strong earthquake shook Aceh province on Indonesia's Sumatra island on Wednesday, officials said.

According to Mulyadi, deputy district chief of Pidie Jaya where the quake hit the hardest, 52 have been confirmed dead, while two people died in neighboring Bireuen district based on data from a hospital as of 2:00 p.m. local time.

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The shallow 6.5-magnitude quake hit just 10 kilometers north of the small town of Reuleut at 5:03 a.m. local time, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

Sulaiman, a local disaster official, said numerous stores, houses, and other buildings collapsed. Dozens are feared stuck inside the damaged establishments, and earth movers to clear rubble have been arranged for the effort to search for survivors.

"Several shophouses and homes have caved in in Pidie Jaya district and the owners are still trapped there," chief of the local disaster management office Achmad told AFP. "We are now deploying heavy machines to help out and hopefully we can save the ones who are trapped."

The quake struck as some in the predominantly Muslim region prepared for morning prayers, local officials cited. A few mosques in Pidie Jaya also crumpled.  

At least five aftershocks were felt in the hours after the initial quake, the disaster management agency said. Seismologists shared that the earthquake was felt across most of Aceh province, which was devastated by the 2004 Indian Ocean tidal wave.

Residents from nearby towns such as Lhokseumawe and Sigli panicked and fled their houses to seek refuge away from the water. "We are now evacuating to Tijue because we are afraid of a tsunami," Nilawati, one of those heading several kilometers inland, said

However, Indonesia's Climate, Meteorology, and Geophysics Agency cited there is no potential tsunami alert.

Because of its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," the world's largest archipelago frequently experiences seismic and volcanic activities. In December 2004, the region suffered from a massive destruction when an earthquake of magnitude 9.2 caused a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in over a dozen countries, 160,000 of which in Indonesia alone with most deaths from the Aceh province. It is considered as one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history.

Tagsearthquake, Indonesia, Aceh, Sumatra Island, Tsunami, Earthquake Indonesia