Strong quake hits North Indonesia

An earthquake has hit north of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, the country's meteorological agency says.

The 6.5-magnitude quake struck 10 km (6 miles) beneath the earth's surface with an epicentre 117 km off the coast of the Talaud islands, the agency said.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties and no tsunami warning was issued.

Indonesia is in a zone known as the Pacific "ring of fire", which is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity.

In December 2004, a huge earthquake off Indonesia's coast killed hundreds of thousands of people across the Indian Ocean by triggering a tsunami.