Tsunami warning after Indonesia hit by strong quake

JAKARTA, Feb 20 (Reuters) Indonesia issued a tsunami warning today after a strong earthquake struck off the Moluccas islands in the country's east, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The magnitude 6.6 quake occurred at 1334 hrs with an epicentre 45 km southwest of Labuha in North Maluku province, the Indonesian Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said in a telephone text message.

It had the potential to cause a tsunami, it added. The US Geological Survey initially put the earthquake strength at 6.9 magnitude, but then revised that to 6.5. It put the depth at 31 km in a bulletin on its Web site.

''We are trying to get information from the region. If after one hour there's no tsunami, we can say it's safe. So far there's no report of damage from Labuha,'' Fauzi, an official at the meteorology agency's earthquake centre, told Reuters.

The centre's chief, Suharjono, also said no damage or casualties had been reported immediately after the quake, although it had been felt by people in the area.

Indonesia sits atop the so-called Pacific ''Ring of Fire'' where the collision of continental plates brings frequent seismic and volcanic activity.

A quake in the Indian Ocean in December 2004 and the tsunami it caused left some 170,000 people dead or missing in Indonesia's Aceh province.

REUTERS MS PM1446