BENGKULU, Indonesia, Sept 13, 2007 (AFP) - Weak with shock, a dishevelled Samsul Anwar crouched near his injured 12-year-old son as he tried to come to terms with the death of his wife in a powerful Indonesian earthquake.

"My wife was washing the dishes and my two sons were taking a bath," Anwar recalled in a tent at a hospital here thrown up in the immedate aftermath of Wednesday's 8.4-magnitude quake off the island of Sumatra.

He was not at home but rushed straight back when he felt the ground shake beneath his feet.

By then it was too late.

"The roof of the house had collapsed, hitting my wife in the head. She is dead, with head injuries," he said as he comforted his son on a stretcher.

"My son has a problem with his breathing. He has a stomache ache and he can't move his hand or his leg," the 40-year-old father added.

His second son, aged seven, played nearby with bloodied scratches on his head and hand. He is too shy to speak to strangers.

Another survivor, Hari, 26, had both his shoulders bandaged. He braced for more of the major aftershocks that have since hit the area, further rattling already frightened residents.

"I fled my home, I was running to avoid collapsing walls, but I fell down and my shoulder hit a rock," he said.

"People were afraid because we heard the tsunami warning, so we were trying to get quickly to higher ground."

Some two dozen injured people have arrived at this hospital in Bengkulu for treatment, a hospital official said.

The town is in the region thought worst hit by the quake, which triggered a regional tsunami alert and revived memories of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which killed some 168,000 people in Aceh province at the tip of this island.

The confirmed death toll so far according to health ministry officials is six, but poor communications across the affected area mean it is highly likely to rise, even if not to the scale initially feared.

Workers scurried around trying to handle the injured brought in so far.

The immediate challenge however is caring for around 180 patients who have been shifted to outdoor tents amid fears of collapsing buildings because of the strong aftershocks, which have triggered a further three tsunami warnings.

Patients from intensive care units have been shifted to the blue rescue tents and even the chemist is dispensing medicine outdoors.

Authorities in Jakarta said they were dispatching teams of medical workers Thursday to help with casualties.