A major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 was recorded off the Moluccas in Indonesia on Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, and a tsunamiwarning was issued for the area near the quake.The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said hazardous tsunamis were possible within 300 km (185 miles) of the quake's epicentre. The centre said there was no danger of a Pacific-wide tsunami.

Tsunamis could be expected to reach Indonesia, the Philippines, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Marshall Islands, and as far away as Japan's Okinawa and Taiwan, it said.

The first waves could reach land within 30 minutes and the last within about six hours. "The initial wave may not be the largest," the centre warned.

The quake was measured at a depth of 47 km (34 miles), with the epicentre 134 km (83 miles) northwest of Ternate, an island in eastern Indonesia's Moluccas.

Another quake measuring 6.2 was recorded soon after off Indonesia's Sulawesi, according to the USGS.