The tremor hit east-southeast of Palu on Sulawesi island at 10:27 am (0227 GMT) and was felt quite strongly in the area but did not pose a tsunami threat, according to Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency.

One person was killed and more than a dozen others seriously injured in Sigi, around 20 kilometres (12 miles) outside Palu, according to national disaster mitigation agency spokesman Abdul Muhari.

Dozens of houses across Palu, Sigi and nearby Parigi Moutong were damaged in the earthquake as well as bridges, government offices and a hotel, Abdul said in a statement.

Palu resident Nurhaidar, who like many Indonesians uses one name, was cooking in her kitchen when she felt the quake.

"Suddenly, it was like there was a jolt, and then the whole house seemed to shake. The entire roof was making noise, like it was about to collapse," the 42-year-old told AFP.

"I hurried to evacuate with all the kids, and even though we were disoriented and confused for a moment, we managed to get out."

Indonesia, a vast archipelago in Southeast Asia, experiences frequent earthquakes due to its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire".

The arc of intense seismic activity, where tectonic plates collide, stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

In 2018, a 7.5-magnitude quake and subsequent tsunami in Palu killed more than 2,200 people.