Rescuers are struggling to rescue more than 50 people being buried and trapped under the debris as a 6.4 magnitude quake has left at least 20 people dead and dozens other injured, Indonesian officials said on Wednesday.
Soldiers, police, those from search and rescue office and disaster agency and volunteers are involved in the search and rescue operation, said Apriadi, head of emergency unit at Pidie Jaya disaster agency.
"Our focus now is to save life of the victims," he told Xinhua by phone from the district.
Most of the victims were hit or buried by debris of buildings or shops in Pidie Jaya district, said Apriadi.
Heavy machinery equipment have been deployed to help the evacuation, he added.
Injured persons kept flock on hospitals in the districts, Apriadi added.
Heni Nurmaini, a press officer for emergency at the provincial disaster agency told Xinhua that more than 20 people were killed and dozens others were injured with massive buildings and infrastructure facilitates damaged.
