West Sumatra province, which was devastated by a 7.6-magnitude quake in September and is laid along the west coast of Sumatra island, is building tsunami shelters, an official said on Monday.

The shelters were located in higher grounds at the coastal areas and their positions were strategic, the spokesman of the provincial administration Nuzul Putra said.

"So far we have been building four shelters along the coast to protect people from tsunami," he told Xinhua over phone from the province.

More than 1,000 people were killed and part of infrastructure destructed during the September quake in the province.

(Xinhua News Agency December 22, 2009)