印尼星期三早上发生强烈地震，死亡人数仍在上升。
当地官员说，印尼苏门答腊岛北端距离震中最近的毕迪贾雅区有至少97人遇难，几百人受伤。梅雷杜县是受灾最严重的地区之一。
地震造成房屋倒塌，包括清真寺、商店和住宅。救援人员在瓦砾中寻找生还者。
印尼救灾部门官员苏托波·努格鲁霍在声明中说：“地震震感强烈，在房屋倒塌的时候，许多人慌乱地逃到室外。”
美国地质勘探局说，这次6.5级地震震中在鲁特勒镇附近。印尼气候，气象和地球物理局说，地震没有引发海啸。
印尼所处位置多发地震。2004年苏门答腊岛地震引发海啸，造成印尼等国23万人丧生。
星期三的地震让很多人担心2004年的灾难会重演。
The death toll continues to rise from a strong earthquake that struck Indonesia early Wednesday.
Local officials said at least 97 people were dead and hundreds more injured in Pidie Jaya, the district closest to the quake's epicenter, on the northern end of Indonesia's Sumatra island. The town of Meureudu was among the hardest hit areas.
The shaking brought down dozens of buildings, including mosques, stores and homes. Rescue crews were searching through rubble for people who may be trapped underneath.
"The earthquake was felt strongly and many people panicked and rushed outdoors as houses collapsed," Sutopo Nugroho of the country's national disaster management agency said in a statement.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 6.5 quake was centered near the town of Reuleut. Indonesia's Climate, Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said the earthquake did not generate a tsunami.
Indonesia is located in an area of the world prone to earthquakes. A 2004 quake off Sumatra island triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 in Indonesia and other countries.
The threat of a repeat of that disaster was on the minds of some of those who felt Wednesday's earthquake.
