Jakarta: A 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck Sunday about 30 miles under the Molucca Sea in northeastern Indonesia, the US Geological Survey said.
The epicenter of the major quake was about 80 miles from the city of Ternate, in north eastern Indonesia, it said. It had a depth of more than six miles below the ocean floor.
No tsunami warning was issued.
An official with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii told The Associated Press that a basin-wide tsunami – one that travels a great distance or across an ocean – isn't expected, though a tsunami near the earthquake's site is ''always possible.''
''Given the size of the earthquake, we think a basin-wide tsunami isn't likely, though a local tsunami could be possible,'' said Brian Shiro, a geophysicist at the tsunami center.
Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the so-called Pacific ''Ring of Fire,'' an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
In December 2004, a massive earthquake struck off Indonesia's Sumatra island and triggered a tsunami that killed more than 2,30,000 lives – 1,31,000 people in Indonesia's Aceh province alone.
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