- There were no immediate casualties; The islands urged preparation for evacuation.
- Indonesia issued tsunami warnings, with waves of between 0.3 and 1 m possible.
- Guam, Japan, Malaysia, PNG, Philippines and Taiwan may face waves.
A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck the North Moluccan Sea off Indonesia’s historic spice island of Ternate on Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, triggering a tsunami warning for neighboring Southeast Asian nations.
There were no immediate reports of injuries, although the agency reported aftershocks of magnitude as high as 5, 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 earthquake, whose magnitude was revised downward from an initial magnitude of 7.8, occurred at a depth of 35 kilometers (22 miles), deeper than the initial figure of 10 kilometers (6 miles), the USGS added.
Its epicenter was about 120 kilometers (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 a 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) radius of the epicenter, U.S. tsunami warning officials said.
Wave 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 of less than 0.3 meters (1 foot) above tide levels on the coasts of Guam, Japan, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Taiwan.
Japan could see waves of up to 0.2 meters (8 inches), but no damage is expected, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, warning that a Pacific tsunami could occur.
Indonesia lies on both sides of the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of high seismic activity where tectonic plates meet and earthquakes are frequent.
