A strong 7.6-magnitude earthquake hit deep under the ocean off Indonesia and Timor Leste early Tuesday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) reported.
The epicentre of the quake was 427km south of the Indonesian island of Ambon at a depth of 95km, USGS said.
Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reported some aftershocks at a magnitude of 5.5.
The agency said the tremor was felt on the islands of Timor, Maluku archipelago, and Papua. But there were no immediate reports of damages or victims.
“I was in bed, then I felt little shake. I woke up and found out that many of my friends felt it too,” Hamdi, an Indonesian in Ambon, told AFP.
An unidentified resident in Dili, capital of Timor Leste, reported a “very strong, long shake”, in a remark left at the website of the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre, a non-profit monitoring centre.
The quake caused light poles to sway and sent residents running out of buildings and onto streets in Tual, a port in the Maluku archipelago, videos posted by users on Twitter showed.
The Indonesian geophysics agency warned about a potential tsunami initially, and then lifted the warning.
The quake was felt as far as Darwin, capital of Australia’s Northern Territory, where at least 1,000 people reported it to the Australian Geoscience agency.
“Sustained vigorous shaking here in #Darwin just now from what looks to be a pretty serious #earthquake to our north,” user @OreboundImages posted on Twitter.
“Could hear the earth rumbling,” another Darwin resident posted on the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre website.
“Was huge! Went on for ages, whole house was really shaking,” still another Darwin resident noted.
Video posted by Twitter users in Darwin showed water in glasses and pitchers sloshing from side to side.
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