The epicenter of the earthquake was six kilometers (3.73 miles) northeast of the city of Majene, at a depth of 10 kilometers.
Several thousand panicked residents fled their homes in search of safety after the earthquake, which did not trigger a tsunami warning, but was felt strongly for about seven seconds, the statement said.
The disaster mitigation agency said a hotel and the West Sulwesi governor’s office were badly damaged and the electricity supply was down.
Hours earlier, a magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck the same district on Thursday, damaging several homes
Occupying the so-called Pacific ‘ring of fire’, Indonesia, a nation with high tectonic activity, is regularly hit by earthquakes.
In 2018, a devastating 6.2 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami hit the city of Palu in Sulawesi, killing thousands.