Indonesia issues tsunami alert after Sulawesi quake

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia issued a tsunami warning after an earthquake struck near the Talaud Islands north of Sulawesi island, the country's meteorology agency said on Thursday.

An official at the agency said the quake was at a shallow depth of 10 km (6.2 miles) and was felt strongly in the Talaud Islands.

The U.S. Geographical Survey said the 7.5 magnitude quake had struck in the Talaud Islands, 323.5 km (201 miles) south-southeast of General Santos, on the Philippine island of Mindanao. It put the quake at a depth of 33 km (20 miles).

The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said no destructive widespread tsunami threat existed. But the agency added that earthquakes of this size sometimes generate local tsunamis that could be destructive along coasts located within 100 km of the quake epicentre.

It said Japan's meteorological agency might issue tsunami messages for countries in the northwest Pacific and South China Sea, and if the information was conflicting, the more conservative information should be used for safety.