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Strong quake strikes off eastern Indonesia

An earthquake off Indonesia has been felt about 500km away in Darwin, but there are no reports of damage.

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Source: AAP


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A strong 6.5-magnitude earthquake has struck off eastern Indonesia, sending people running from their homes in panic but causing no damage or casualties.

The quake was also felt about 500km away in Darwin, where it set bookshelves shaking and moved furniture.

The earthquake hit in waters near the remote Barat Daya islands in Maluku province on Sunday evening (9.20pm CST) at a depth of 132km, the United States Geological Survey said.

It was 411km east of Atambua and 425km south of Ambon.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue an alert.

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Indonesia's national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said some people in southwest parts of Maluku province felt strong shaking for about 10 seconds and ran out of their homes.

But Suharjono, an official from the meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency, added: "We have not received any reports of casualties or damage. I don't think there's going to be any significant impact."

Amin Bin Tongke, chief search and rescue official for Maluku province, says it hasn't affected any major towns or cities.

"The quake is in a really remote area, near a cluster of small islands away from cities or towns, with a very small population," he said.

The quake was felt in the Northern Territory and further east in Queensland.

"It went for quite a length of time, around 30 seconds... We had books moving," Steph Bond, senior forecaster at the Bureau of Meteorology in Darwin, told AAP.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where tectonic plates collide, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity.


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