Ninety-three days after giant waves left nearly 300,000 people dead or missing, Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla told a local radio station that between 1,000 and 2,000 people were probably killed on Nias after the earthquake. He said the estimate was based on an assessment of damage to buildings, not bodies counted.

Agus Mendrofa, deputy district head of Nias, off the western coast of Sumatra, earlier told local radio 296 people had died. He added that hundreds of buildings had been damaged or had collapsed.

Sgt. Zulkifli Sirait of the island's police told the Associated Press: "We still cannot count the number of casualties or the number of collapsed buildings because it is dark here. It is possible that hundreds of people trapped in the collapsed buildings died."

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