'God unleashed his anger on people'

At first light, hundreds of awestruck Aceh residents were still trying to comprehend the tidal waves, some measuring up to 10 metres (33 feet), that engulfed their villages and carried away their homes and relatives.

"People told me it was as if God had unleashed his anger on the people," said Haji Ali, a resident in Patong Labu, a small settlement close to the north Aceh town of Bireuen.

Along Aceh's coastline, flimsy wooden houses lay crushed and tossed aside while vehicles were scattered in rivers and ravines. Frightened farm animals wandered the quake-buckled roads, unteth-ered in the chaos.

Worse was expected with communication links still down to the provincial capital Banda Aceh, believed to be the worst-affected by the natural disaster and originated in ocean close to the city.

An AFP reporter heading for Banda Aceh said the level of destruction appeared greater the closer he got.

Health ministry officials in Jakarta said bodies were piling up acros the region, with mosques being used to collect the dead as hospitals morgues spilled over.

Television pictures showed rows of dead infants swaddled in traditional batik cloth, lying on hospital floors as relatives wept outside.

Relief efforts have been hampered by the closure of the region's main airport at Banda Aceh. Airport authorities in Jakarta said the runway was flooded and the control tower partially collapsed.

Access to Aceh, where government troops are engaged in a major operation to crush a separatist rebellion, is normally limited with radio broadcasts and access to foreign media and aid agencies subject to heavy restrictions.

Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who was on his way to Aceh to view the destruction and inspect relief efforts declared three days of national mourning for the victims of one of the largest quakes ever recorded.