Many people were injured in the quake, which measured 6.9 on the Richter scale and destroyed several buildings in the town of Nabire, they said. The national earthquake center put the epicenter just four miles from Nabire.

The quake closed Nabire's airport and many buildings were destroyed or set ablaze. Residents fearing aftershocks said they had set up tents near their homes to sleep in.

"According to the latest news in the information center, 23 people died and the number is still growing," said Muhamad Son Ani, district police chief in Nabire, a town of 26,000 people.

"This is only the report from the city, not counting those outside the city because communication lines are dead," he told Reuters by telephone.

Son Ani said 62 injured people had been treated and sent home, 30 were in a military hospital and about 60 in a local hospital.

The local hospital itself had been badly damaged, another official said.

"The victims died because of fallen houses and buildings which could not endure earthquakes. And it was quite a heavy quake," said Fauzi, coordinator of the national earthquake center.

District police chief Son Ani said: "Residents are still afraid and worried that there will be other aftershocks because until now we can still feel the shaking. People are setting up tents outside their houses."

He said the dead included at least four children ranging in age from one month to three years. There were also reports of fires in residential areas.

"A local market is on fire and the fire brigade is struggling to put it out," Son Ani said.

One resident described the situation in the town as tense.

"Until now we can still feel the tremors and smoke is coming out from some houses," the man told Jakarta-based El Shinta radio.

Officials said the quake had damaged some roads in Indonesia's eastern-most province, and Nabire airport had been closed due to a crack in the landing strip.

Rugged but resource-rich Papua, formerly known as Irian Jaya, is 1,900 miles east of Indonesia's capital, Jakarta.