AN EARTHQUAKE with a magnitude of 7.4 toppled buildings in parts of northern Indonesia yesterday, sending people fleeing from their homes, killing at least one person and generating a small tsunami.

The quake was felt in Bitung in North Sulawesi province as well as in Ternate in neighbouring North Maluku province, according to the Disaster Management Agency. The provinces border the Molucca Sea, where the quake was centred.

Full damage assessments were still under way, the agency said.

“We had just woken up and suddenly the earthquake hit and we all ran out of the house,” Bitung resident Marten Mandagi said. “The shaking was very strong.”

A woman died in a building collapse in the North Sulawesi city of Manado and another resident was injured, Indonesia’s Search and Rescue Agency reported. At least three injured people were hospitalised in Ternate.

Videos released by the rescue agency showed damaged structures and flattened houses, while television stations broadcast scenes of people rushing outside and gathering in streets to avoid the risk of buildings collapsing.

Dozens of aftershocks followed, including one of 6.2 magnitude. 

The vast Indonesian archipelago sits on major seismic faults and is frequently hit by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.