Indonesia quake triggers brief tsunami warning

BANDA ACEH, Sumatra (KABC) -- A powerful earthquake off western Indonesia triggered a brief tsunami warning on Tuesday, but caused no major damage.

Authorities say the quake, with a preliminary magnitude of 7.3, hit 270 miles southwest of Banda Aceh, Sumatra, at 10:37 a.m. PT. It was centered 18 miles (30 kilometers) beneath the ocean floor.

Officials issued a tsunami warning, but lifted it after two hours.

Indonesia is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

A giant quake off the country on Dec. 26, 2004, triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed 230,000 people, half of them in Aceh.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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