PADANG, Indonesia - Two strong earthquakes hit Indonesia's Sumatra island on Tuesday, killing at least 70 people, flattening buildings and sending emergency operations into full swing to deal with the injured and displaced.

The tremors were felt as far away as Malaysia and Singapore, where several buildings were evacuated.

Scores of people were believed trapped under rubble on Sumatra, prompting the government to send in the military to assist with rescue efforts.

"Seventy people have been killed. The president has contacted the (West Sumatra) governor directly and right now evacuation process by the military and police is underway," Sudi Silalahi told reporters in Jakarta.

Hospitals in some areas were overwhelmed with dozens of injured and fears of aftershocks pushed authorities in Padang to set up emergency tents in a soccer field.

Government officials began to rush aid to affected people, but a key road connecting Batu Sangkar and Padang was badly damaged hampering aid distribution.

"Our priority is to handle the injured ones, including their families. We have set up six tents at a soccer field as emergency posts," Syamsu Rahim, the mayor of Solok town, told Reuters
"The evacuation process is going on ... I cannot predict how many people are still trapped because the process is still on. However, there are many houses collapsed, and I believe that the inhabitants are in them."

The first quake of magnitude 6.3 was felt in the West Sumatra provincial capital of Padang at around 11 a.m., sparking panic among seaside residents who feared it might trigger a tsunami.

A second 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck the same area two hours later, causing more panic. However, there was no immediate tsunami warning after the quakes, which were on land.

The United States Geological Survey said the first quake's epicentre was around 420 km (260 miles) from Singapore. The Indonesian national quake centre measured the quake at 5.8.

Some buildings collapsed and several homes and other buildings were badly damaged by the tremors that sent several people scrambling for safety, including 200-300 patients who ran out of a hospital in Padang, a Reuters witness said.

"Many have calmed down and are returning home, but we can still see some traffic jams around the city," the mayor of Padang, Fauzi Bahar, told Reuters.

Padang is one of the few Indonesian cities where a tsunami warning system is in place. A quake in the Indian Ocean off Sumatra island in December 2004 and the tsunami it caused left about 170,000 people dead or missing in Indonesia's northern Aceh province.

Reuters