Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has delayed the scheduled visit to Australia and New Zealand and will fly to the Nias island which was hit by an 8.7-magnitude earthquake hit just after midnight Tuesday.

Presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said the president was monitoring situation in Nias and planned to visit the island very soon.

It was estimated that over 300 people were killed in the massive tremor, which followed 9.0-magnitude quake three months ago that unleashed tsunami to 11 countries and left 220,000 Indonesian people dead or missing.

Susilo was scheduled to visit Australia and New Zealand starting Wednesday.

"The planned visit has been postponed. We have not rescheduled visit to Australia pending coordination with officials there," Andi was quoted by Detikcom online news service as saying.

Source: Xinhua