On the heels of a major 7.5-strength earthquake in Indonesia, US officials issued a tsunami warning Sunday for the area within 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) of the earthquake`s center.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center warned that `this earthquake has the potential to generate a destructive regional tsunami along coasts located within a thousand kilometers (620 miles) of the earthquake epicenter.`

It advised that authorities in the region `take immediate action to evacuate coastal areas.`

`This earthquake is located outside the Pacific. No tsunami threat exists to coastlines in the Pacific,` it added.

The US Geological Survey said Sunday that the quake struck 136 kilometers (84 miles) from Gorontalo, Sulawesi, Indonesia, at a depth of 21 kilometers (13 miles), the center said.