A major 7.4-magnitude offshore quake struck in eastern Indonesia early Thursday (Apr 2), the US Geological Survey (USGS) said, with a US monitoring centre issuing a warning of possible “hazardous tsunami waves” within 1,000km of the epicentre.
The quake hit at a local time of 6.48am at a depth of 35km in the Molucca Sea, the USGS said, off the small island of Ternate.
Tsunami waves 0.3m high hit Indonesia’s North Maluku after the quake.
The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center earlier warned that hazardous tsunami waves were possible “within 1,000km of the epicentre” along the coasts of Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia.
An AFP journalist in Manado, North Sulawesi province, said the shaking woke him and others in the city, who rushed outdoors.
“I immediately woke up and left my house. People (were) immediately scrambling outside. There is a school and the pupils rushed outside,” he said.
The shaking persisted for “quite long” but he did not witness “significant damage”, he added.
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