A powerful 7.4-magnitude quake has damaged two churches in North Sulawesi province and forced hundreds of people to escape from coastal areas due to fears of tsunami, meteorology and disaster management agencies said in Jakarta Thursday.

Meteorology agency issued tsunami warning but then lifted it as it did not happen, said Sutiyono, an official of the agency.

"Two churches damaged and many residents fled the coastal areas to prevent the possible tsunami," he told Xinhua, after receiving report from the provincial meteorology agency.

The disaster management agency also confirmed the news.

"Many residents took shelters in the head of regency house and other places," Maman Budiman, an official of the disaster management agency told Xinhua.

Head of crisis center of the Health Ministry Rustam Pakaya said that residents living near the beach had been ordered to escape the areas.

The quake followed by several aftershock measuring 5.7, 5.6, 5. 2 and 5.0 magnitude on the Ritcher scales, he said.

The quake struck at 00:34 Jakarta time (1734 GMT) with the epicenter at 112 km southeast Melongue of the province and 10 km under seabed, said Sutiyono.

The intensity of the quake was felt at 4 to 5 MMI (modified Mercally Intensity) at Talaut town, Sange town and 3 to 4 MMI in Manado the capital of the province, he said.

The U.S. Geological Survey said that the quake was 7.0 magnitude.

Indonesia with over 230 million population sits on a vulnerable quake-hit zone so called "the pacific Ring of Fire," where two continental plates meet that cause frequent seismic and volcanic movement.

(Xinhua News Agency February 12, 2009)