- No immediate loss; islands called for evacuation preparedness.
- Indonesia issued tsunami warnings, with 0.3-1m waves possible.
- Guam, Japan, Malaysia, PNG, Philippines, Taiwan may experience waves.
A 7.4-magnitude 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 a magnitude 5 aftershock and Indonesia issued tsunami warnings for areas in its North Maluku and North Sulawesi provinces.
Regional governments in some cities, such as Ternate and Tidore, the former spice islands, were urged to prepare citizens for evacuation, while news channel Metro TV broadcast images of damaged buildings.
The quake, its magnitude revised down from the original 7.8, struck at a depth of 35 km (22 miles), greater than the early figure of 10 km (6 miles), the USGS added.
Its epicenter was about 120 km (75 miles) from Ternate in northern Maluku, which has a population of more than 200,000, the agency said.
Dangerous tsunamis were possible along the coasts of Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia within 1,000 km (620 miles) of the epicenter, US tsunami warning authorities said.
Waves with heights of 0.3 m to 1 m (0.98 ft to 3.28 ft) above the tide level could hit some coastal areas in Indonesia, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
It also warned of the risk of waves less than 0.3 m (1 ft) above tide levels for the coasts of Guam, Japan, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Taiwan.
Japan may see waves of up to 0.2m (8in), but no damage is expected, the Japan Meteorological Agency said as it warned of a tsunami in the Pacific.
Indonesia straddles the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of high seismic activity where tectonic plates meet and earthquakes are frequent.
