AFP, Manado

A major 7.4-magnitude quake struck off the coast of eastern Indonesia yesterday, killing one person, damaging buildings and sending people running into the streets in panic.

The early-morning tremor in the Molucca Sea between the Sulawesi and Maluku island groups triggered waves up to 75 centimetres (2.5 feet) high in places and prompted a tsunami warning that was subsequently lifted.

“I didn’t know what to do. I was just trying to save my family,” street food vendor Siti Rohayati, 58, told AFP of the moment the quake hit during the breakfast rush in Manado in North Sulawesi province.

“All that mattered was getting my children away safely. I pushed all three of them and told them: ‘Run!’”

One person was killed when a building collapsed in Manado, and another was injured, search and rescue official George Leo Mercy Randang told AFP.

The victim was “buried under the rubble”, he said, adding that authorities were following up on reports of more people injured.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the tremor hit at a shallow depth of 35 kilometres.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) initially said hazardous tsunami waves were possible within 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) of the epicentre along the coasts of Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia.

Elevated waves were observed in nine locations in North Maluku, North Sulawesi and Gorontalo provinces, with the highest hitting 75 centimetres in North Minahasa, according to Indonesia’s BMKG geological agency.

The PTWC lifted its warning just over two hours after the tremor, saying the tsunami threat “has now passed”.

Budi Nurgianto, a 42-year-old resident of Ternate in North Maluku province, said he was inside his house when the tremor struck, sending people outside in terror.

“The quake was felt strongly. I heard it first from the walls of the house that shook,” he said.