A powerful earthquake that struck off Indonesia's western coast killed 290 people on Nias Island, according to a local government official Tuesday.

About 70 percent of the houses and buildings in the town of Gunungsitoli collapsed from the quake that struck late Monday, the official was quoted by media reports.

The official added many more people "could be buried under the remains of hundreds of collapsed buildings."

Nias was badly hit by the Dec. 26 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that killed some 200,000 people in 11 Indian Ocean nations. At least 340 Nias residents were killed during the time and 10,000 left homeless.

Source: Xinhua