<p>An offshore earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 hit near eastern Indonesia's Maluku islands on Wednesday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) reported, triggering a tsunami warning.</p>.<p>The epicentre of the tremor was located 150 kilometres (93 miles) northwest of the eastern Indonesian island of Halmahera, at a depth of 48 kilometres.</p>.<p>"Hazardous tsunami waves are possible for coasts located within 300 kilometres of the earthquake epicentre," the NWS Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said in its warning after the quake.</p>.<p>The quake occurred around 13:06 pm local time (0606 GMT). The quake was revised down from an initial magnitude of 7.2 reported by the USGS.</p>.<p>Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) warned of possible aftershocks.</p>.<p>Indonesia experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide.</p>.<p>On November 21, a 5.6-magnitude quake hit West Java province on Indonesia's main island of Java, killing 602 people.</p>.<p>Most of the victims were killed when buildings collapsed or in landslides triggered by the quake.</p>.<p>A major earthquake off Sumatra on December 26, 2004, set off an Indian Ocean tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people as far away as Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.</p>.<p>That powerful 9.1-magnitude quake triggered 100-foot waves that hit the shore of Banda Aceh on Sumatra.</p>
<p>An offshore earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 hit near eastern Indonesia's Maluku islands on Wednesday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) reported, triggering a tsunami warning.</p>.<p>The epicentre of the tremor was located 150 kilometres (93 miles) northwest of the eastern Indonesian island of Halmahera, at a depth of 48 kilometres.</p>.<p>"Hazardous tsunami waves are possible for coasts located within 300 kilometres of the earthquake epicentre," the NWS Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said in its warning after the quake.</p>.<p>The quake occurred around 13:06 pm local time (0606 GMT). The quake was revised down from an initial magnitude of 7.2 reported by the USGS.</p>.<p>Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) warned of possible aftershocks.</p>.<p>Indonesia experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide.</p>.<p>On November 21, a 5.6-magnitude quake hit West Java province on Indonesia's main island of Java, killing 602 people.</p>.<p>Most of the victims were killed when buildings collapsed or in landslides triggered by the quake.</p>.<p>A major earthquake off Sumatra on December 26, 2004, set off an Indian Ocean tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people as far away as Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.</p>.<p>That powerful 9.1-magnitude quake triggered 100-foot waves that hit the shore of Banda Aceh on Sumatra.</p>