Powerful Earthquake Hits Indonesia Killing Nearly 100

The body of a young earthquake victim is carried in Pidie Jaya, Aceh province, Indonesia, on Dec. 7, 2016.

At least 97 people were killed and dozens are feared trapped in rubble, after a powerful 6.5 magnitude quake rocked Aceh province on Indonesia's Sumatra island, early this morning.

Indonesian rescuers use an excavator to search for victims. The rescue effort involving thousands of villagers, soldiers and police is concentrated on Meureudu, a severely affected town in Pidie Jaya district.

Motorcyclists pass a damaged section of a road following the earthquake.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the shallow 6.5 magnitude earthquake that struck at 5:03 a.m. (5:03 p.m. Tuesday ET) was centered about 12 miles southeast of Sigli, a town near the northern tip of Aceh, at a depth of 11 miles. The agency had initially placed its epicenter undersea. It did not generate a tsunami.

Hospital workers and family members carry an injured woman. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency said 273 people were injured, about a quarter of them seriously.

The hand of an earthquake survivor is seen under rubble as residents try to rescue him.

Maj. Gen. Tatang Sulaiman, chief of the army in Aceh province, said that four people were pulled from the rubble alive, while another four or five people are known to be buried, but he didn't say if they are dead or alive. "Hopefully we would be able to finish the evacuation from the rubble before sunset," he said.

Indonesian villagers collect usable belongings from their collapsed building.

Some 245 buildings were seriously damaged or destroyed, mostly in Pidie Jaya, including 14 mosques and the remainder largely dwellings and shop houses.

Indonesian villagers collect usable belongings from their damaged house.

A woman is given medical treatment in the corridor of the hospital in Pidie Jaya.

Muhammad Reza Faisal, director of Chik Ditiro General Hospital in Pidie Jaya, said the facility, which was damaged by the quake, was overwhelmed with the numbers of injured and many people were being treated in tents pitched on its grounds. He said five of the quake victims died at the hospital.

Injured people receive medical attention at the hospital.

A woman grieves for her relative who died.

A patient is given medical treatment in the corridor of the hospital.