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[video]http://cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2010/10/26/indonesia.resorts.destroyed.cnn[/video]
[video]http://cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2010/10/26/bpr.indonesia.earthquake.saputra.cnn[/video]
Jakarta, Indonesia -- The death toll from the 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck off Indonesia has risen to 154, officials said Wednesday.
Another 400 are missing from the quake that struck Monday and triggered a tsunami.
The numbers of dead and injured were in flux because information was trickling in from remote parts of Indonesia, a country made up of myriad islands.
"The worst hit area is north and south Pagai Island. Reports of villages flattened are coming from there," said Antorizon of the disaster management center in West Sumatra.
Like many Indonesians, Antorizon goes by one name.
On Wednesday, rescuers deployed with hundreds of body bags as they struggled to reach victims.
Rough seas and debris delayed a team from the Indonesian Red Cross that deployed Tuesday and was to try again Wednesday. A second Red Cross team was to be dispatched Wednesday, carrying 400 body bags to the disaster area, said spokeswoman Aulia Arriani.
The Red Cross expects to send more emergency supplies, but awaits information on what is needed.
The trip takes 10 hours, even under good conditions.
Monday's quake generated a "significant" tsunami, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said. Some of the missing might include people who are unaccounted for after fleeing to higher ground, said Henri Dori Satoko, head of the Mentawai Islands parliament.
Though communication with remote areas is difficult, some witnesses in West Sumatra reported seeing a wave 6 meters (nearly 20 feet) high. Other reports described the tsunami as being about 3 meters (almost 10 feet) high.
At least one village with a population of about 200 people was swept away, with only 40 people recovered, Satoko said.
The quake struck at 9:42 p.m. Monday, triggering a tsunami warning that was later lifted when sea level readings indicated the threat had diminished or was over for most areas. Its epicenter was 240 kilometers (150 miles) south of Padang, at a depth of 20.6 kilometers (12.8 miles), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The magnitude was revised upward from a preliminary magnitude of 7.5.
The city of Padang and the Mentawai Islands are at the meeting place of two tectonic plates, making them vulnerable to earthquakes and tsunamis.
On December 26, 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake struck off northern Sumatra. A tsunami generated by that earthquake killed more than 225,000 people in 14 countries -- mainly India, Indonesia, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The Indonesian region of Banda Aceh was hard-hit: About 150,000 died there.