4 shakers hit the same region within an hour.
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Four strong earthquakes struck the same region of eastern Indonesia early Wednesday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The first magnitude 6.4 quake was followed by a 7.0 shaker. An hour later, a 5.1 magnitude temblor hit, followed 20 minutes later by a 6.2 rocker.
There were power blackouts in some areas but no initial reports of serious damage or casualties.
Residents say the quakes struck off Papua province causing panic, but there were no initial reports of damage. Staff at Jakarta-based Metro TV told NBC News that there were no reported casualties.
Hundreds of people ran out of their homes, said Yan Pieter Yarangga, a resident from the coastal town of Biak. Fearing a tsunami, others ran from the beach.
"I ran too, I was afraid there would be a second quake," he said, adding there did not appear to be any damage.
The USGS initially estimated the second quake at 7.4, but revised the number a few minutes later. It said the quake was centered 88 miles beneath the ocean floor. An Indonesian meterological agency briefly issued a local tsunami warning.
Indonesia sits above a series of fault lines that make the vast island nation one of the most earthquake-prone places in the world.
A giant quake off the country on Dec. 26, 2004, triggered the Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 230,000 people, half of them in Indonesia's westernmost provice of Aceh.
The quake that hit Wednesday was located more than 2,000 miles (3,000 kilometers) from the country's capital, Jakarta.