The U.S. Geological Survey says a strong earthquake has hit eastern Indonesia.
The service said Tuesday the quake had a magnitude of 6.3 and was centered in the Molucca Sea about 135 kilometers northwest of Ternate.
An Indonesian website, vivanews.com, said the quake struck at 9:08 pm local time and there appeared to be little risk of a tsunami.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. An earthquake of that magnitude can cause damage in populated areas within a radius of about 160 kilometers.
Indonesia sits on fault lines that make the region prone to earthquakes. A tsunami triggered by a massive undersea quake in December 2004 killed nearly 230,000 people, half of them in Indonesia's Aceh province.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.
