No tsunami detected after 7.6 quake strikes eastern Indonesia

Indonesia issued a tsunami warning for almost three hours after a powerful 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia's Tanimbar islands on Tuesday (Jan 10), but no significant changes in sea level were recorded and the warning was lifted.

At least four aftershocks were reported after the quake that was also felt in some parts of northern Australia, with initial reports by Indonesia's disaster agency indicating mainly light to medium damage to buildings, officials said.

The quake, locally measured as magnitude 7.5, struck at a depth of 130 km at 2.47am local time, the country's geophysics agency BMKG said. The tsunami warning was lifted at 5.43am.

"Based on our observation of four tide gauges around the earthquake's epicentre... there was no anomaly detected or no significant changes of sea level," BMKG head Dwikorita Karnawati told a news conference, advising people who lived near the coast to continue with their activities.

The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) recorded the magnitude of the quake as 7.6, after initially reporting it as 7.7. The US Geological Survey also pegged it as a 7.6 magnitude.

There were four aftershocks with the strongest recorded at 5.5 magnitude, BMKG said.

Indonesia's disaster agency officials were still checking for the full extent of the quake's impact.

News website Liputan6.com reported houses in Saumlaki town in Yamdena island were badly damaged.

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