The official death toll from the second earthquake in a month to devastate El Salvador jumped yesterday to at least 274 as rescue crews clawed through the rubble of several adobe-built rural towns for survivors.
Salvadorans searched in the ruins of homes, schools and churches for those believed to be buried but still alive after a 6.6-magnitude quake struck on Tuesday in the tiny Central American nation.
The quake injured at least 1,695 people, according to authorities, who said on Tuesday 173 people had died.
"The top priority is to save lives. Right now we are focusing on the task of rescue and evacuation," President Francisco Flores said in a televised national address.
Up to half the houses in the town of San Vicente, some 60km east of the capital, San Salvador, were flattened in the quake, and the nearby towns of Analquito, San Emigdio, Guadalupe and Verapaz had been "70 to 80 per cent destroyed", Mr Flores said.
The quake rattled through eastern El Salvador one month to the day after one of 7.6 magnitude killed more than 800 people and left thousands homeless in the impoverished, coffee-exporting nation of 6.2 million.
Hundreds of people are still unaccounted for from last month's quake, which triggered a landslide burying whole blocks of the capital city's Santa Tecla suburb.
Tuesday's quake trapped scores of people in their homes in the districts of La Paz, Cuscatlan and San Vicente, close to San Salvador. Officials said at least 2,200 homes were destroyed or damaged in three central provinces.
Pope John Paul sent a message of support and sympathy to Salvadorans after the tragedy. "I pray for the eternal rest of those who have died, and hope that the Lord will offer strength and comfort to all Salvadorans, particularly those directly affected by this disaster," the Pope said.
A sub-sea earthquake rocked the south of the Indonesian island of Sumatra early yesterday. However, there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, a seismologist and residents said.
A monitor at the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau in Jakarta said the earthquake had its epicentre in the Indian Ocean, 21 km from the city of Bengkulu, which was hit by a devastating earthquake last June.
The state Antara news agency said some people in high-rise buildings in Jakarta felt yesterday's quake, which was measured by the Australian Geological Survey Organisation at 7.4 on the Richter scale.
An earthquake shook the Ionian islands around Paxi in western Greece but there were no reports of damage. The Athens News Agency said the quake measured 5.0.