The earthquake, which measured 6.6 on the Richter scale, struck under the Maluku Sea at a depth of 33 kilometers (20.5 miles). Its epicenter was more than 200 kilometers (130 miles) north of Ternate, the administrative center of the province.
"This earthquake could have caused a tsunami, as the shocks were rather powerful," said Budi Waluyo of the Bureau of Meteorology and Geophysics. "We have informed authorities in the province that there is no threat of a tsunami. There are no immediate reports on casualties and damage, but we are continuing to check them."
Earlier media reports said people along the coast rushed out of buildings following the tsunami warning.
Earthquakes and tsunamis are frequent in Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago and part of the seismically active Pacific "Ring of Fire." About 6,000-7,000 quakes measuring at 4 on the Richter scale are registered in Indonesia every year.
Indonesia was among 12 Indian Ocean countries struck by a major tidal wave caused by an undersea earthquake in December 2004, when hundreds of thousands of people died in what was the world's worst tsunami in 40 years.
