JAKARTA, March 30 (V7N) –  A major 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of eastern Indonesia early Thursday, killing at least one person, triggering a tsunami warning, and sending waves up to 75 centimetres high before the alert was lifted.  

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the tremor hit at a shallow depth of 35 kilometres in the Molucca Sea between the Sulawesi and Maluku island groups.  

One person was killed and another injured when a building collapsed in Manado, North Sulawesi province, according to local search and rescue official George Leo Mercy Randang. “The victim was buried under the rubble,” he said.  

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) initially warned of hazardous waves within 1,000 kilometres of the epicentre, affecting Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia. Within half an hour, waves of 75 cm were recorded in North Minahasa, 20 cm in Bitung, and 30 cm in North Maluku. The PTWC lifted its warning just over two hours later, saying the threat “has now passed.”  

Residents described scenes of panic as the quake shook homes for more than a minute. “I even saw some people leaving their house without having finished their shower,” said Budi Nurgianto, 42, from Ternate.  

Indonesia’s BMKG geological agency reported 11 aftershocks, the strongest at magnitude 5.5.  

The quake was felt strongly in Manado, a city of 450,000, where pupils rushed out of schools and residents scrambled outside.  

Indonesia sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an area of intense seismic activity. In 2004, a magnitude-9.1 quake off Aceh triggered a tsunami that killed more than 170,000 people in Indonesia.  

END/WD/RH