A powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Indonesia on Friday triggering a tsunami warning, the meteorological department said, but there was no immediate word on any casualties or damage.
The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre estimated the magnitude at 7.7, placing it at a depth of 5 km (3.11 miles).
Tsunami warnings were issued for the areas of Maluku, East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara and Southeast and South Sulawesi, after the quake hit 112 km (69.59 miles) northwest of Larantuka, in the eastern part of Flores, at a depth of 12 km.
A 5.6-magnitude aftershock hit Larantuka after the first quake, the agency said.
In May this year, an earthquake of magnitude 6.6 struck off the northwest coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island on Friday, the GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences said.
The last time an earthquake triggered a tsunami in Indonesia was in 2004.
On December 26, 2004, a 9.1 magnitude quake off the coast of northwest Sumatra triggered a tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and nine other countries.
Due to earthquake residents flee into streets
Alfons Hada Betan, head of East Flores Disaster Mitigation agency in Larantuka said there were no immediate reports of damage and the quake was felt for several minutes as people fled from their homes.
“Everyone ran out into the street,” Agustinus Florianus, a resident of Maumere town on Flores island, told.
People said on social media the earthquake was also felt strongly in Makassar, South Sulawesi.
Muhamad Sadly, an official with the meteorology agency told people should stay away from beaches adding that the tsunami warning would be lifted at least two hours after it was issued.
Indonesia straddles the “Pacific Ring of Fire”, an area of high seismic activity that rests atop multiple tectonic plates.