The Bulgarian foreign ministry and the Consular Relations Directorate have warned people to avoid travelling to the beleaguered region of Sumatra following deadly earthquakes that struck the Pacific islands, the Bulgarian National Radio reported on October 2 2009.

According to the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry, there are no reported cases of Bulgarian casualties, or nationals missing in the devastating South Pacific quakes on the islands of Samoa, Tonga and Sumatra.

More than 1100 people are reported to have died in Indonesia following two large earthquakes in the space of less than 48 hours,  United Nations humanitarian chief John Holmes told world media on October 1 2009.

Rescue teams are fighting against time to rescue survivors buried under rubble. Scores of people are injured, thousands are displaced and the death toll is likely to rise.

"These numbers, I fear, will rise as more information becomes available," he said, quoted by CNN. "It's still feared that thousands of people are trapped under damaged houses and many buildings."

On October 2, Indonesian health minister Siti Fadilah Supari sent an appeal to the world for specialists, equipment and resources to help with the rescue effort.

"We need help from foreign countries for evacuation efforts," he said as quoted by the BBC.

"We need them to provide skilled rescuers with equipment. Our main problem is that there are still many victims trapped under the rubble. We are struggling to pull them out."

Many people are believed to remain  trapped under rubble after the 7.6-magnitude quake struck on September 30 2009.