45,000 displaced by Indonesia quake amid relief efforts: Official

Nearly 45,000 people have been displaced following a devastating earthquake in Indonesia’s Aceh Province, officials have announced as relief aid continues to trickle into the disaster-stricken area.

"We have 45,300 people evacuating in several places as of Saturday morning," the national disaster agency spokesman, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said on Saturday, adding that the number of the displaced had nearly doubled since Friday due to an influx of new data.

Most of the displaced spent the night outdoors in tents near their ruined homes as hundreds refused to move into shelters fearing aftershocks, Nugroho noted.

The 6.5-magnitude tremor earlier in the week destroyed hundreds of homes, mosques and businesses across the province, one of the areas worst hit by a devastating tsunami in 2004.

Hundreds more were injured in the quake, which also leveled 11,000 buildings, according to authorities who added that those displaced are staying in temporary shelters and mosques or with relatives.

Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo visited the worst-hit areas of the province on Friday and pledged to rebuild communities while calling on Indonesians to pray for their countrymen.

Meanwhile on Saturday, sniffer dogs were again used in the search for bodies and possible survivors in the devastated town of Meureudu, where a market filled with shop houses was mostly flattened. Four other locations in Pidie Jaya are also the focus of search and rescue efforts.

The Indonesian army has established kitchens, shelters and a field hospital in the hard-hit town of Meureudu in a bid to assist the region's overwhelmed health facilities.

ME