JAKARTA ~ A 6.6-magnitude earthquake rocked the eastern Indonesian province of Maluku on Wednesday, prompting the brief issuing of a tsunami alert, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said.

The earthquake, which struck at 4:32pm, was centered 300 kilometers northeast of the East Timorese capital Dili, some 23 kilometers under the floor of the Banda Sea, the agency said in a statement.

A tsunami warning was issued, but lifted about one hour later.

Suharjono, from the agency headquarters, said the quake had tsunami potential “because it was shallow, at 23 kilometers. The area that should be on alert is around Timor.”

The US Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake at 6.2, at a depth of only 10 kilometers under the sea floor.

Witnesses in Dili said the quake was not strongly felt there. There were no initial reports of damage or casualties.