Scientists have warned of increased seismic activity in Indonesia following the magnitude 9 quake in December as the plates that make up the earth's crust adjust.

Officials said hot ash and thick smoke spewed out of Mt Talang, which lies near the west coast city of Padang, 938 km (582 miles) northwest of Jakarta, near the epicentre of four moderate quakes on Tuesday.

An official in the nearby town of Solok said hundreds of villagers living on the slopes of the 2,690 metre (9,825 ft) volcano had been evacuated so far.

"Residents within the radius of 3-4 km (2 miles) have been evacuated to a sports stadium in a neighbouring town," Elvi Sahlan, Solok deputy mayor, told Reuters by telephone.

"The quakes and aftershocks can accelerate volcanic activity ... The quakes don't cause the eruption, but they add energy to it," Budi Waluyo, chief officer at the meteorology and geophysics office in Jakarta, told Reuters.

The volcanic activity and quakes sparked panic among residents of Padang, a city of nearly one million people, which was hit last Sunday by a quake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale.

Officials said of the quakes recorded on Tuesday the biggest measured 5.8 on the Richter scale, with an epicentre around 150 km (90 miles) southwest of Padang.

"The four quakes we recorded overnight more or less had their epicentres in the same area in the ocean," Rasidi, another official at the geophysics and meteorology office in Jakarta.

Some Padang residents fled to higher ground, fearing a tsunami, witnesses said.

Indonesia has been hit by daily aftershocks since the quake on Dec. 26. A quake off Sumatra on March 28 is estimated to have killed up to 2,000, many on Nias island off Sumatra's west coast.