BEIJING, July 26 (Xinhuanet) -- Residents fled from swaying homes and hospitals Thursday when a powerful earthquake rocked eastern Indonesia, triggering a tsunami warning, authorities and witnesses said.

    The temblor, which had a preliminary magnitude of 7, initiated a tsunami warning but the alert was soon lifted after it became clear no destructive waves had been generated, the country's geophysics agency said.

    In the city of Manado, people fled from markets, hospitals and schools, witnesses said. One woman ran from the second floor of a hospital with an IV drip still inserted in her arm.

    "What's going on? What's going on?" she screamed before being calmed by other people.

    The earthquake struck under the Maluku Sea at a depth of 20 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey said on its website. The epicenter was more than 130 miles north of Ternate island.

    "We felt a strong tremor for almost a minute, people ran in panic from buildings," said George Rajaloa, a resident in Ternate. "Children are crying and their mothers are screaming, but there is no damage in my area."

    In December 2004, a massive earthquake struck off Sumatra island and triggered a tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in a dozen countries, including 160,000 people in Indonesia's westernmost province of Aceh.

    Just more than a year ago, another quake-generated tsunami killed around 600 people on Java island.

    (Agencies)