- No immediate casualties; urged the islands to prepare for evacuation.
- Indonesia has issued tsunami warnings, with possible waves of 0.3 to 1 m.
- Guam, Japan, Malaysia, PNG, the Philippines and Taiwan could face waves.
A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck the northern Molucca Sea off Indonesia’s historic Spice Island of Ternate on Thursday, the United States Geological Survey said, triggering a tsunami warning for neighboring Southeast Asian countries.
There were no immediate reports of injuries, although the agency reported aftershocks of up to magnitude 5, and Indonesia issued tsunami warnings for areas of its North Maluku and North Sulawesi provinces.
Regional governments in some towns, such as Ternate and Tidore, the former Spice Islands, were asked to prepare citizens for evacuation, while the Metro TV news channel broadcast images of damaged buildings.
The quake, revised down in magnitude from its initial magnitude of 7.8, struck at a depth of 35 km (22 miles), deeper than the initial figure of 10 km (6 miles), the USGS added.
Its epicenter was about 120 km from Ternate in the northern Moluccas, which has a population of more than 200,000, the agency said.
Dangerous tsunamis are possible along the coasts of Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia within 1,000 km (620 miles) of the epicenter, U.S. tsunami warning authorities said.
Waves with heights ranging from 0.3 to 1 m (0.98 to 3.28 feet) above tide level could hit some coastal areas of Indonesia, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
It also warned of the risk of waves less than 0.3 m above tide level for the coasts of Guam, Japan, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Taiwan.
Japan could see waves of up to 0.2 m (8 inches), but no damage is expected, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, which warned that a tsunami could occur in the Pacific.
Indonesia sits astride the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of high seismic activity where tectonic plates meet and earthquakes are common.
