Indonesians flee homes after magnitude 7.3 quake triggers tsunami warnings

A powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Indonesia on Tuesday triggering a tsunami warning, the meteorological department said, which sent startled residents out into the streets, but there was no immediate word on any casualties or damage.

Local television showed crowds of people walking along a street in Sikka of East Nusa Tenggara province, as traffic passed by. 

Tsunami warnings were issued for the areas of Maluku, East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara and Southeast and South Sulawesi, after the quake hit 112 km (69.59 miles) northwest of Larantuka, in the eastern part of Flores, at a depth of 12 km (7.5 miles).

Indonesia straddles the "Pacific Ring of Fire", an area of high seismic activity that rests atop multiple tectonic plates. At least 48 people were killed and hundreds injured when the Mount Semeru volcano erupted on Java island on Dec. 4.

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