GUNUNG SITOLI, Indonesia - Firefighters freed a man trapped in a crumpled house on remote Nias island today, 36 hours after he was buried in rubble. As the first foreign military help arrived, officials said an estimated 1,000 people had died in the region's latest large earthquake.

Residents swarmed over collapsed buildings in Nias island's main town of Gunung Sitoli, searching frantically for survivors of the country's second catastrophe in three months, after December's massive quake and tsunami.

French firefighters from the agency Firefighters Without Borders - who rushed to the island from Aceh province's west coast - used a car jack to free the legs of 25-year-old television repairman Jansen Silalalahi, who had been pinned between a motorbike and a cupboard.

As he was lifted out of the rubble of what was once a three-story building, Silalalahi smiled weakly and gave a thumbs-up.

"People knew I was there but it was difficult to reach me. I kept screaming whenever I heard anyone," said Silalalahi, who did not appear to be badly injured.

The improvised rescue highlighted the crisis situation officials face here: there are thousands of collapsed buildings and no machinery to help search through the rubble for survivors.

The town's hospital was barely functioning: It lacked power or water, and it had no fuel for generators.

"We know there are many people critically injured," said Dr. Norman Peeler, a medical coordinator from the World Health Organization. "It is essential they get treatment, infections spread easily in open wounds."

Two Singaporean military helicopters landed today and distributed food and water to a frantic crowd of survivors. They also delivered a car, medical supplies, generators and 20 Singaporean troops and medics. A third helicopter was unable to touch down because there were so many survivors at the landing area.

Parts of Banyak island appeared to have sunk by up to 3 feet, leaving some coastal homes inundated with sea water, Aceh province's acting governor said. The good news: Despite previous reports, there were no confirmed deaths on the island, Azwar Abubakar said in televised comments.

Monday's 8.7-magnitude quake struck off Indonesia's Sumatra island, some 75 miles north of Nias. The even-bigger quake that generated the region's devastating tsunami on Dec. 26 hit an area further northwest along the Sumatran coast.

The latest quake initially raised fears of another tsunami and sent people scrambling for high ground in several Indian Ocean countries lashed by December's killer waves, but no big waves materialized.

North Sumatra Gov. Rizal Nurdin estimated that 1,000 people died in the latest disaster, but officials feared the number could climb to 2,000. Bodies were still being discovered in the ruins of houses and shops today and laid out in front of churches and mosques.

Andi Malarangeng, a spokesman for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, said the president would visit Nias island on Thursday.

Indonesia "welcomes and is open to all kind of assistance, including help from foreign troops, to assist in the disaster zone," Malarangeng told The Associated Press.

Australia and Japan were also planning military relief operations.