Earthqauke: 34 killed and hundreds wounded in Indonesia

The epicenter of the earthquake was at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 mi), six kilometers (3.73 mi) northeast of Majin.

At least 15,000 people have also been evacuated after the earthquake.

To the north of Majen, more than a dozen patients and workers are trapped under the rubble of a hospital that was flattened by the earthquake.

"The hospital is flattened - it collapsed," Arianto told the rescue agency in Mamuzu City.

"There are patients and hospital workers trapped under the debris, and now we are trying to reach them,"

According to the news agency AFP, at least 26 people died in Mamuzu, while eight others were reported wounded.

Ali Rahman, head of Mamuzu's Disaster Mitigation Agency, told AFP that the number of deaths might increase, but we believe many of the dead are buried under the debris. Pictures and videos posted online showed many people trapped in damaged buildings and collapsed structures.

The disaster mitigation agency announced that a hotel and the Governor of West Sulawesi's office had also suffered significant damage, and the electricity supply had also been reduced.

The statement said that some roads and bridges were also slowed in the rescue operation as thousands of terrified people flee their homes to seek safety after the accident.

An expert at BMKG, the country's meteorological, meteorological and geophysical agency, warned that aftershocks could trigger a possible tsunami.

In an online press conference, BMKG Professor Dwikorita Karnavati has advised the area residents to take precautions and move to higher ground.

"Subsequent aftershocks are likely to cause a tsunami ... Don't wait for the first tsunami because they can happen very quickly," he said.

The so-called Pacific called Ring of Fire, Indonesia, an archipelago of high tectonic activity was regularly hit by earthquakes. In 2018, a devastating 6.2 magnitude earthquake and tsunami killed the city of Palu in Sulawesi to the north, killing thousands of people.

In December 2004, a 9.1 magnitude earthquake struck north of Sumatra, Indonesia, which flooded coastal areas of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, and nine other countries, killing more than 230,000 people.