One of the first evacuation flights from a quake-devastated region of central Indonesia has landed in East Java.

A C130 military transport aircraft which arrived at a military airport carried dozens of people, including injured victims needing further care and treatment.

It left from the city of Palu, where hundreds of people are still waiting to be evacuated.

Indonesian earthquake wreckage
The quake has devastated the region (AP)

Andi Wijaya, the airport base commander in East Java, says seven aircraft were ready to evacuate but crews had to be summoned to prepare for the flights.

The situation is increasingly desperate in the severely damaged areas of central Sulawesi island where people are running short of food, fuel and other essentials.

Friday’s magnitude 7.5 earthquake and the tsunami it generated caused at least 840 deaths, but some areas outside Palu have yet to be reached.