Indonesia earthquake today: Where did it strike and what was the magnitude?

INDONESIA has been struck by an earthquake with people living near the Banten coast urged to evacuate “immediately”.

A tsunami warning has also been issued for the area which is popular with tourists.

Where did the earthquake strike?

The earthquake in Indonesia struck off the islands of Sumatra and Java.

The quake hit at a depth of 59 km (37 miles), about 227 km (141 miles) from the city of Teluk Betung on the island of Sumatra, according to United States Geological Survey (USGS).

The Indonesian geophysics agency issued a tsunami warning after the quake.

Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency said on its Twitter feed that residents on the Banten coast should "immediately evacuate to higher ground".

Radio Elshinta tweeted that people have started to move to safety from Banten, the westernmost province on the island of Java.

The strong earthquake has caused buildings to sway in Jakarta, after tremors hit the capital city.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, but when strong tremors were felt in Jakarta, the capital, people dashed out of office buildings into streets.

What was the earthquake’s magnitude?

Daeng Info in Indonesia said there was an "atmosphere of panic at Soekarno Hatta Airport" in Jakarta shortly after the 7-magnitude earthquake.

It added that some visitors to the city reported "feeling shaking through the floor" while shopping, "even though it didn't last long".

Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency said on Twitter that the earthquake has the "potential" to create a 3m tsunami which would threaten Panaitan Island, in the Sunda Strait, between Java and Sumatra, in the Indonesian province of Banten.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre did not issue a tsunami warning, watch or advisory after the quake. Indonesian authorities, however, issued their own.

Dwikorita Karnawati, the head of Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, said the local tsunami alert will remain in place.

She called on people living in coastal areas to move to higher ground but she also urged people not to panic.

Buildings in Jakarta swayed for nearly a minute during the evening quake.

Television footage showed workers and residents running out of high-rise buildings.

The National Disaster Agency spokesman, Agus Wibowo, said they were still gathering information of the damage and injuries.

Hospitals in West Java's cities of Bogor, Ciamis and Cianjur evacuated patients, some attached to intravenous drips, to the hospital grounds, television footage showed.

The quake caused panic in the Pandeglang region of Banten province, where people ran to higher ground. Pandeglang, which encompasses Unjung Kulon National Park and popular beaches, is where a deadly tsunami struck in the dark without warning last December, killing at least 222 people as waves smashed into houses, hotels and other beachside buildings along the Sunda Strait.