UPDATED: Indonesia says magnitude 7.0 quake strikes off Sulawesi, no tsunami potential

JAKARTA, Jan 18 (Reuters) – A powerful earthquake with a 7.0 magnitude struck off Indonesia’s North Sulawesi province on Wednesday, the country’s geophysics agency said, adding that there was no tsunami potential.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, however, warned in a bulletin that there was a risk of tsunami waves located within 300 kilometres of the epicentre.

The Indonesian agency said with the quake’s epicentre was at a depth of 64 kilometres (39.77 miles), 141 kilometres southeast of the town of Melonguane.

A resident in the city of Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi, said by telphone that the quake was felt very strongly for several seconds and people were seen running out of buildings.

However, the resident said, so far, no visible damage had been seen and some people had returned to their homes.

The quake was also felt in the Maluku islands, the local disaster agency added.

Indonesia rests atop the so-called “Pacific Ring of Fire”, making it one of the most seismically active regions in the world, experiencing frequent earthquakes.