Jakarta: A powerful magnitude-7.1 earthquake has struck in the Molucca Sea between the Indonesian provinces of North Sulawesi and North Maluku and a tsunami warning has been issued.

The earthquake struck at 11.17pm (3.17am AEDT), according to the US Geological Survey, and while initially the earthquake was judged to have struck at a depth of around 10km, this was soon revised down to a depth of 73km.

Typically, the shallower the depth of an earthquake, the greater risk there is of a potentially powerful tsunami being generated.

The earthquake struck at an approximately equidistant point of around 150 kilometres between North Sulawesi and North Maluku provinces, out in the Molucca Sea.