Indonesia's Nias island at a glance

An earthquake with a magnitude of 8.7 off the west coast of Sumatra has killed hundreds on the Indonesian island of Nias, a popular destination with foreign and local surfers.

The quake struck late on Monday in nearly the same spot as a magnitude-9 event last December 26 that triggered a huge tsunami which left nearly 300,000 people dead or missing across the Indian Ocean region. More than 100 people died on tropical, palm-fringed Nias as a result of that quake and tsunami.

Nias facts: The island with some 700,000 residents is part of Indonesia's North Sumatra province. It lies 125 kilometres off the west coast of Sumatra. Sibolga is the closest mainland city.

¤ Around 95 per cent of the residents on the 5,600 square kilometres island are Christian. The rest are Muslim.

¤ Lagundri Bay on Nias is known as a surfers' paradise due to challenging waves up to three metres high peeling off notorious right-hand reef breaks.

¤ The main town, Gunungsitoli, is on the east coast. Its airport was damaged by the latest quake.