JAKARTA - Indonesia on Thursday called off a tsunami alert issued after a 6.4-magnitude quake struck off the northern tip of Sulawesi island, the meteorology office said.

"The tsunami alert has been lifted," it said in a telephone text message, lifting the alert less than an hour after it was sent out.

The quake struck at 5:48 pm (0948 GMT) some 290 kilometres (180 miles) northeast of Bitung, a major port in north Sulawesi, at a depth of 30 kilometres, the agency said.

The area is roughly 2,700 kilometres to the east of the epicentre of Thursday's massive earthquake that struck Sumatra island, killing at least 10 people.

- AFP /ls

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