Jakarta - Indonesia issued a tsunami warning Thursday after a powerful earthquake struck the eastern province of North Maluku, seismologists said.

The quake, measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale, struck about 7 am (0000 GMT), with its epicentre on the sea about 122 kilometres north- west of Ternate, the provincial capital on North Maluku. It occurred at a depth of 10 kilometres, Indonesia's National Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said in a short message.

Indonesia's geological agency issued warnings that the quake could have tsunami potential. National TV stations broke into their programming to relay the alerts.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," the edge of a tectonic plate prone to seismic upheaval. A major earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck in December 2004, leaving more than 170,000 people dead or missing in Indonesia's Aceh province and half a million people homeless. (dpa)