Dozens dead on Indonesia’s Nias: TV

The earthquake killed dozens of people and destroyed hundreds of homes in the main town on Indonesia’s Nias island on Monday evening, a local government official told Metro TV. Agus Mendrofa, the deputy mayor of Gunungsitoli town, estimated that 10,000 people had fled the town for higher ground in the wake of the 8.2 magnitude quake off the main island of Sumatra. ‘‘I can guarantee that dozens have died,’’ Mendrofa said by telephone. ‘‘Gunungsitoli is now like a dead town. The situation here is in extreme panic.’’Mendrofa added that roads had also been cracked by the quake.

Tens of thousands of people across northern and western Sumatra fled their homes and drove or ran to higher ground, TV and residents said. An NGO official in Banda Aceh, the town worst hit by the December 26 tsunami, sent out a telephone message saying that thousands of people fled their homes and headed for higher ground. —Reuters