An earthquake in Indonesian waters set off small tsunami waves Thursday morning, killing at least one person and damaging houses and buildings, officials said. The 7.4 magnitude earthquake was centred in the Molucca Sea at a depth of 35 km, the US Geological Survey said.

Tsunami waves were recorded at several monitoring stations less than half-an-hour later, including in Bitung with a height of 8 inches and in West Halmahera with a height of a foot, according to Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu said waves of 2 inches were recorded in Davao in the southern Philippines, but there was no threat for more distant areas about three hours after the quake.