Indonesia:A strong earthquake shook buildings in an Indonesian provincial capital last night, sending residents fleeing from their homes.
There were no immediate reports of casualties from the magnitude 7.3 quake but local television said some buildings were cracked in Manado, a city of 400,000 people in the northern Sulawesi island, 2,200km (1,365 miles) northeast of Jakarta.
"People panicked and ran out of their homes. They are still outside their homes," a witness said about 30 minutes after the quake struck in the Molucca Sea, 165km (100 miles) east of Manado near the northern tip of Sulawesi. The tremors lasted a minute, he said.
Arifin, a teacher in the north Moluccas capital of Ternate, said people there had fled to high ground in fear of a tsunami.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) website put the quake's magnitude at 7.3 on the Richter scale, while Indonesia's meteorology and geophysics agency gave its strength as 6.5 and initially said it could pose a tsunami risk. However agency official Nurpuji later said: "There is no report of significant damage so far."
Poor communications in Indonesia often mean information on a disaster's impact is delayed. The quake occurred at 7.27pm (1127 GMT).
A tsunami triggered by an earthquake in the Indian Ocean in December 2004 left 170,000 people dead or missing in Indonesia's Aceh province in Sumatra.
- (Reuters)