The powerful earthquake that shook off the cost of Indonesia's Aceh province on Sunday was the worst natural disaster after the 1883 eruption of Mountain Krakatau that killed 36,000 people in the country.

The quake has triggered a tsunami that swept Aceh and North Sumatra on the Sumatra island and left several thousand people dead, local press reported Monday.

Local hospitals in Aceh, some 2,000 km west of Jakarta, reported that bodies continue to arrive.

The north Sumatra government said the tsunami has caused at least 43 people dead and 75 others missing on the smaller Nias island.

"That's the latest data in the morning (Monday) that may change anytime," government spokesman Eddy Sofyan was quoted by Detikcom online news service as saying.

The tidal wave triggered by the quake also hit other Asian countries, including Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, the Maldives, Malaysia and Myanmar.