On Monday morning two earthquakes hit the eastern Indonesian island of Sumbawa killing six people and injuring almost 70 others.

The first quake hit just after midnight 50 kilometres north-west of the Raba district town on Sumbawa Island in West Nusa Tenggara. It measured 6.7 magnitude on the Richter scale. According to the Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency, it occurred at a depth of 50 kilometers.

In the Dompu and Bima districts three people were killed, according to Rustam Pakaya, chief of the Health Ministry's Crisis Centre, DPA reports.

Among the victims there was a 5-year-old boy.

Pakaya said that buildings and homes were damaged by the quake and he feared that the death toll could rise as workers were still evaluating the situation.

Those who got injured were treated at the general hospital in Dompu.

Suriyani. a doctor there, said: "We received 34 people injured. Some with slight injuries have gone home already, but some 20 people are still under hospital treatment, with broken bones, open wounds and head injuries caused by collapsing walls," AFP reports.

Three hours later an aftershock of 6.8 magnitude on the Richter scale took place causing panic among the residents who had fled their homes after the first quake.

According to Syaifurrahman Salman, Dompu district chief, more than 70 people got injured from three different sub-district areas. He also said that more than 500 homes and buildings were damaged by the quakes. In some places electricity was cut temporarily.

The worst hit area was Kilo, a sub-district. Salman said that hundreds of people who were left homeless were sheltered at makeshift tents when aftershocks continued to rattle the region until Monday afternoon.

At 4:15 pm (0815 GMT), another aftershock of 5.7-magnitude on the Richter scale hit the area adding more panic among the residents.

A tsunami warning was issued, but it was lifted later as no waves materialized.

The earthquakes were also felt in the nearby islands of Lombok and Bali.

Early Monday another earthquake of 6.0-magnitude on the Richter scale hit the western coast of West Sumatra, but no injuries or damages were reported.

Indonesia was the nation that was the worst hit by earthquake in December 2004 that triggered a tsunami, killing more than 170,000 people mostly in the Aceh province.