Strong tremors and numerous aftershocks have alarmed people on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi after a 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck in the morning, authorities said on Tuesday.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) said the quake occurred at 11:27 am (0327 GMT) at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometres near the city of Palu in central Sulawesi.
At least two people were seriously injured and several others suffered minor injuries, Muhammad Rizal, head of the search and rescue agency in Palu, said. He said there were initially no reports of fatalities.
There was no tsunami warning because the quake occurred inland. However, the USGS said there were numerous aftershocks of up to magnitude 5.2.
The full extent of the damage was still unclear, but the strong shaking may have caused damage, particularly to many poorly built buildings, according to reports. Response teams said part of the roof at a university collapsed.
Sulawesi, located between Borneo and Papua New Guinea, is one of the larger islands in Indonesia, a South-East Asian nation made up of more than 17,000 islands.
Indonesia lies in the Pacific Ring of Fire, the world's most geologically active zone, where earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur regularly.
More than half of Indonesia's almost 280 million residents live on the overcrowded main island of Java. Sulawesi has a population of about 20 million.
The earthquake revived memories of the 2018 disaster, when the city of Palu and the surrounding region were hit by a 7.5-magnitude earthquake and a tsunami. More than 4,300 people died.
