Panicked residents fled their homes when a strong earthquake struck eastern Indonesian islands of North Maluku on Tuesday, official reports said.

The 6.1 magnitude quake hit Labuha district on the North Maluku island of Halmahera and nearby regions, said Hendrik, an official with the national Meteorology and Geophysics Agency in Jakarta. It was followed by at least one aftershock with a preliminary magnitude of 5.6, the US Geological Survey said.

Hendrik told Deutsche Presse-Agentur that the quake's epicentre was in the ocean, some 40 km north-east of Labuha and about 33 km beneath the seabed. The area lies about 2,800 km north-east of Jakarta.

"Panicked residents fled into the streets because the tremblor they felt for six seconds was quite strong," Hendrik told dpa.

There were no reports of damage or injuries. The local meteorological and geological agency said a tsunami was not expected.
Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago nation, is prone to earthquakes because it sits atop Asia's so-called "Ring of Fire," where continental plates collide and earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are frequent.

A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck West Sumatra province on March 6, killing around 70 people, injuring dozens more and destroying or damaging thousands of homes and public buildings across seven districts.