The quake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale hit the western Padangpanjang region at 9:44 pm (1444 GMT), Fauzi told AFP.

He said five people died while two others were seriously injured and five slightly hurt.

"There are several houses collapsed," Fauzi said.

A series of weaker aftershocks followed the quake, which was centred about eight kilometres (five miles) southeast of Padangpanjang, a town about 70 kilometres north of the West Sumatra capital of Padang.

Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are common in Indonesia, a huge archipelago of more than 18,000 islands and islets strung along the so-called "Pacific ring of fire".

Thirty-seven people were killed by an earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale at Nabire, in Indonesia's far east, on February 6.

On January 2 one person was killed and about 30 injured by a quake measuring 6.1 on the islands of Bali and Lombok.

Another earthquake struck the Maluku archipelago on January 29 but did not cause any injuries or major damage.

TERRA.WIRE