More than 60 people were injured and 200 homes were destroyed when a powerful earthquake shook a remote area in eastern Indonesia.

Location of earthquake in Indonesia. Graphics: Aljazeera

People woke up and ran out of their homes, screaming, as a 6.6-magnitude undersea earthquake shook Papua around 1 a.m., not far from the coastal city of Sorong.

So far, 17 people have been seriously injured and 45 have suffered minor injuries, while 200 houses have been destroyed, AFP quoted disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho as saying. He warned the toll could rise. There have been no reports of deaths.

The earthquake also caused power outages in Sorong and patients were evacuated from a hospital in the city.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) determined the earthquake had a magnitude of 6.6 on the Richter scale and said the epicenter was at a depth of 24 km.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where tectonic plates collide, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity. In July, a teenager fell into a river and died, while several buildings were damaged by a magnitude 7 earthquake that shook Papua.

A powerful undersea earthquake in 2004 triggered a tsunami that engulfed Aceh province, on the island of Sumatra, western Indonesia, killing more than 170,000 people in Indonesia and tens of thousands in countries with coastlines bordering the Indian Ocean.

According to VNE