Red Cross aid appeal for Indonesia quake victims

"We are especially concerned about getting aid to remote villages," said Bob McKerrow, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies' office in Indonesia.

Villagers were reportedly blocking roads to stop relief trucks following disruption to normal deliveries to commercial markets in rural areas, the federation added in a statement.

The increase from an initial appeal for 6.6 million dollars followed a week of emergency work and an assessment of local needs.

Some 739 people died in the 7.6-magnitude earthquake that shook Sumatra island around the city of Padang on September 30, Indonesian officials have said.

Another 296 people were missing and 2,219 had been injured .

Some 800,000 people were believed to have been affected by the earthquake and another tremor in West Sumatra on October 1, while nearly 200,000 homes were destroyed, the Red Cross said following aerial and satellite assessments.

"The IFRC has revised its preliminary emergency appeal upwards and is now seeking a total of 18.5 million US dollars to assist 100,000 survivors of the devastating earthquakes in West Sumatra, Indonesia, over the next six months," the statement said.