The quake struck deep underground shortly after midnight around 400 kilometres southeast of Banda Aceh on the northern tip of Sumatra, the US Geological Survey said.

"A boy was killed and another person was seriously injured," Indonesian National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told AFP.

Falling debris killed the boy as he slept in his home in Subulussalam, Aceh province, a doctor said.

"The boy was sleeping next to his mother when a wall collapsed and bricks fell onto his stomach, crushing him. His mother brought him to us but we couldn't save him in time," the doctor, named Hasbi, said.

Panicked residents rushed out of their homes, many crying and screaming for help, as the quake shook the area for around two minutes, an AFP correspondent said.

AFP