The quake which struck at 03.52 p.m. local time was centered 71 km southeast of the provincial capital of Gorontalo, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said in its release through the Twitter social networking.
"I strongly felt the quake which lasted quite long," local resident Amir said.
An Antara journalist observed the 30-second quake caused houses, electrical poles and trees to vibrate.
"This was the longest temblor I had ever felt so I chose to stay in a safer place," another local resident Ronny said.
There was no immediate report of casualties or material losses.
(Uu.S012/H-NG/S012)
Editor: Luki Satrio
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
