BREAKING NEWS

Magnitude 7.6 earthquake strikes Indonesia - EMSC

Indonesia issued a tsunami warning for almost three hours after a 7.6 earthquake struck off Indonesia's Tanimbar islands before 3 a.m. local time on Tuesday, but no significant changes in sea level were recorded, local media quoted an official as saying.

The powerful earthquake, locally measured as a magnitude 7.5, was at a depth of 130 km (80.78 miles), the country's geophysics agency BMKG said.

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

Indonesia's disaster agency BNPB officials were checking for the extent of the earthquake's impact, but early reports showed light to medium damage to buildings, its spokesperson said.

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