indonesia earthquake

The eastern Indonesian island of Sulawesi was struck by a magnitude-7.5 earthquake at 1:02 a.m. local time today, the U.S. Geological Survey said in an online alert. Two more, less powerful shocks rattled the same area about an hour later.

Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency lifted a tsunami warning that was issued after the earthquake, which it measured at 7.7 magnitude, Reuters reported.

The first quake hit 85 miles (136 kilometers) northwest of Gorontalo in Sulawesi at a depth of 13 miles, the U.S. agency said. The second, with an initial magnitude of 5.8, was 87 miles northwest of Gorontalo at a depth of 28 miles. It was recorded at 1:34 a.m. local time, the USGS said. The third quake, at 2:20 a.m., had a magnitude of 5.5.

The Reston, Virginia, USGS could not be reached for comment.

Indonesia lies in a zone where the Indo-Australian, Eurasian, Philippine and Pacific tectonic plates meet and occasionally shift, causing earthquakes that sometimes trigger tsunamis.

The island of Sumatra is located near the site of the Dec. 26, 2004, earthquake that produced a tsunami which killed more than 270,000 people in 12 Indian Ocean countries.