Indonesia today felt yet another strong earthquake as it shook parts of its eastern Sulawesi province, causing panic among residents with some fleeing to higher ground fearing a possible tsunami recurrence.

However meteorological agencies dispelled a possible tsunami disaster claiming that the quake had the potential to create bigger sea waves but none as devastating as the killer waves which hit parts of Asia and Africa two months ago.

International news agency Associated Press (AP) quoted the Indonesian meteorological agency as saying that the quake struck at 8.04am, local time, and was centered about 40 miles west of the town of Bau Bau in southeast Sulawesi.

The wire added that no deaths, injuries or damage to property has been reported so far from the quake which notched 6.9 on the Richter scale.

However the US Geological Survey recorded the quake at 6.5 while Malaysian news agency Bernama quoted Makassar - Sulawesi's capital - meteorological and geophysics agency's spokesman as saying it measured a lower 6.0 on the scale.

A quake measuring anything above a 6.0 magnitude can cause widespread damage if it hits populated areas.

Panic

AP quoted a local resident as saying "we felt the quake and we just ran out of the house in panic. But we have not seen any damage yet".

The quake was also reported to have been felt in Indonesia's tsunami-ravaged Aceh province about 2,000 miles west causing more panic there.

Aceh registered the highest number of causalities from last year's tsunami, recording over 200,000 deaths in and around the province. The worldwide death toll stands at almost 300,000.

AP added in its report that Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago nation, lies on the Pacific 'Ring of Fire', which is a series of volcanoes and fault lines and that it has at least 129 active volcanoes resulting in frequent tremors and quakes.