Indonesia earthquake: Tsunami warning issued after powerful 7.5-magnitude quake strikes east of Borneo

Earlier tremors destroyed houses, killing one person and injuring at least 10

A powerful earthquake has struck off the coast of Indonesia, triggering a tsunami warning.

The huge 7.5 magnitude quake was recorded near the island of Sulawesi, east of Borneo, the US Geological Survey said.

Authorities lifted an early tsunami warning within an hour, although officials warned those in the area to remain vigilant as a number of aftershocks hit.

“We advise people to remain in safe area, stay away from damaged buildings,” Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, said in a televised interview.

“It is better not to be in a house or building because the potential for aftershocks can be dangerous. People are encouraged to gather in safe areas. Avoid the slopes of hills.”

He added that the national agency in Jakarta was having difficulties reaching some authorities in island's Donggala province, home to around 300,000 people.

The US Geological Survey initially reported the quake as magnitude 7.7, but later downgraded it to a 7.5 reading.

Earlier on Friday, a tremor measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale hit the same area, destroying several houses, killing one person and injuring at least 10, authorities said.

Mr Nugroho warned the second quake had been felt “very strongly”, adding he expected more casualties and more damage to follow.

The scale of the destruction caused by the quake, which hit as the sun was setting, would not be known until Saturday, according to officials.

A local disaster agency official in Donggala, named only as Akris, told Associated Press many houses in the area had collapsed following the second tremor.

“It happened while we still have difficulties in collecting data from nine villages affected by the first quake,” he said. “People ran out in panic.”

The airport in Central Sulawesi province's capital, Palu, halted operations for 24 hours due to damage, according to a notice from AirNav, which oversees airline traffic in Indonesia

A series of earthquakes in July and August killed nearly 500 people on the holiday island of Lombok, hundreds of miles southwest of Sulawesi.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire and is regularly hit by earthquakes.

In 2004, a big earthquake off the northern Indonesian island of Sumatra triggered a tsunami across the Indian Ocean, killing 226,000 people in 13 countries, including more than 120,000 in Indonesia.

Additional reporting by agencies