FOUR people were killed in an earthquake that struck Indonesia’s remote Maluku Islands today, destroying homes and triggering landslides that buried at least one victim.

Terrified residents ran into the streets as buildings fell in around them after the 6.5-magnitude quake hit about 8.45am.

Two people were killed by falling debris, another died after being buried in a landslide, and a woman was killed after falling off her motorbike while fleeing to higher ground, said the national disaster mitigation agency and local search-and-rescue office.

People in Ambon, a city of about 400,000, were seen helping injured residents in bloodstained clothes, while images showed wrecked homes with collapsed walls and rubble strewn on the ground.

Some patients fled a local hospital when the quake hit, prompting officials to set up makeshift shelters outside the building.

“The impact was felt across Ambon city and surrounding areas,” said Rahmat Triyono, head of the earthquake and tsunami division at Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

“Many people were woken up by the shaking… it felt like a truck was passing by.”

The US Geological Survey said the quake struck 37km northeast of Ambon in Maluku province at a depth of 29km.

The area was hit by at least two dozen aftershocks, including one that measured 5.6 magnitude, said Rahmat.

Initial reports said the quake struck offshore, but later analysis found that it hit onshore, raising the potential for damage, said the national disaster mitigation agency.

Local BMKG head Oral Sem Wilar called for calm.

“People were panicking and started to evacuate in some places, but we are trying to tell them there’s no need to panic because there’s no tsunami threat,” he told AFP. – AFP, September 26, 2019.