Ignacio Leon-Garcia, head of the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Indonesia, said the destruction caused by the quake was less than earlier feared.

'We need to keep in mind that the region has 38 million inhabitants. It could be much worse,' Leon-Garcia said.

'The impact is less than we expected, although we need to be careful as assessment is still ongoing,' he said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who visited affected areas Thursday, said the government had enough resources to deal with the aftermath of the quake and did not yet need international assistance.

The quake also jolted the capital, Jakarta, shaking buildings and sending residents running out of their homes and high-rise office towers screaming in panic. A tsunami alert was issued but cancelled less than an hour later.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago nation, sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, which is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because continental plates meet there.