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A 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck eastern Indonesia early Thursday, killing at least one person and damaging buildings. While the quake triggered tsunami waves in nine locations, officials have since lifted all warnings.
The early-morning tremor between the Sulawesi and Maluku island groups struck at a shallow depth of 35 kilometers (21.7 miles), with its epicenter about 127 kilometers west-northwest of Ternate, a city of more than 205,000 people, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
One person was killed when a building collapsed in Manado, North Sulawesi province, and another was injured, search and rescue official George Leo Mercy Randang told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The victim was "buried under the rubble," he said, adding that authorities were following up on reports of more people injured. Indonesia's Metro TV said the victim was killed by falling debris.
The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center initially warned that hazardous tsunami waves were possible within 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) of the epicenter, potentially affecting the coasts of Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia, with waves of up to 1 meter possible in parts of Indonesia.
Elevated waves were observed in nine locations across North Maluku, North Sulawesi and Gorontalo provinces, with the highest reaching 75 centimeters (2.5 feet) in North Minahasa, according to Indonesia's BMKG geological agency.
The warning was lifted just over two hours after the tremor, with the PTWC saying the tsunami threat "has now passed." Japan's Meteorological Agency said it expected "slight changes" in sea levels along the Pacific coast but did not issue warnings.
The earthquake centers of the Philippines and Malaysia also did not issue tsunami alerts.
"I didn't know what to do. I was just trying to save my family," street food vendor Siti Rohayati, 58, told AFP of the moment the quake struck during the breakfast rush in Manado. "All that mattered was getting my children away safely. I pushed all three of them and told them: 'Run!'"
Budi Nurgianto, a 42-year-old resident of Ternate in North Maluku province, said the shaking was felt strongly for more than a minute. "When I went outside, there were many people outside. They were panicked," he said.
"I even saw some people leaving their house without having finished their shower," he added.
An AFP journalist in Manado, a city of some 450,000 people about 300 kilometers west of Ternate by sea, said the quake woke residents and sent them scrambling outside. "There is a school and the pupils rushed outside," he said, adding that shaking persisted for "quite long."
A resident in Manado said items fell from shelves and power was cut, though there was no visible damage in her neighborhood.
Dozens of aftershocks rippled through the area, one reaching magnitude 5.9, according to USGS data. Teuku Faisal Fathani, head of Indonesia's geological agency, briefed journalists in Jakarta on the continued seismic activity.
Abdul Muhari, head of Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency, said teams in Manado, Bitung and Ternate were inspecting buildings and checking for additional casualties.
"We are still collecting data to confirm the number of victims and the damage in each location," Muhari told Australia's ABC News. "There have indeed been earlier reports of casualties from the Regional Disaster Management Agency, but we will provide updated details later regarding the exact figures. Our teams are still working in the field."
Authorities in several areas, including Ternate and Tidore, part of the historic Spice Islands, urged residents to prepare for possible evacuation.
Indonesia lies along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of intense seismic activity where tectonic plates collide, stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.
In 2004, a magnitude 9.1 earthquake struck the westernmost Aceh province, triggering a tsunami that killed more than 170,000 people in Indonesia.
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