Indonesian quake toll climbs to more 4,000

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- The death toll from a massive earthquake in Indonesia climbed to more than 4,000 Monday as rescue workers searched the ravaged Aceh region.

Authorities fear, however, that number of victims could rise when reports are received from across the devastated regions in Aceh.

The Indonesian government declared the Aceh quake as the national disaster.

In Banda Aceh, the provincial capital of Aceh, about 3,000 people were killed in the quake-triggered tsunami that swept away thousands of residents. Several hundreds of fatalities were reported from a number of districts across the province.

"All facilities here in the province were either totally destroyed or heavily damaged," an official said.

In addition to the deaths, tens of thousands of people were forced outdoors, while hundreds of others were injured.

In Lhoksemawe, a district town in North Aceh, more than 30,000 homeless were temporary sheltered at a number of government buildings and plastic tents.

The quake registered 6.8 on the Richter scale by Indonesia's Meteorological Institute office in Jakarta. The U.S. Geological Survey recorded the tremor at 8.9, making it the most powerful in four decades.

Witnesses in Banda Aceh said the quake triggered tidal waves that swept away thousands of houses and damaged hundreds of others, as well as cutting power and telephone communications.