A 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit Tuesday off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, according to the US Geological Survey, forcing residents to resort to heights before a tsunami warning was raised.

The epicenter of the earthquake, which occurred at three o'clock local time (Monday at 20:00 GMT), was located near the coast of the Mentawi Islands, at a depth of 15.5 kilometers, according to the US agency.

No casualties or major damage were recorded.

"The tremor was so strong that we had difficulty standing up and getting out. We had difficulty getting out of the house and had to hold on to the walls," said Patrice Sanini, a resident of Siberut, the largest of the Mentawi islands.

"It is the strongest earthquake this year. I thought a tsunami would happen. Fortunately, no tsunami was recorded," he added.

The Indonesian Geophysics Agency issued a warning of a possible tsunami and kept it for about two hours, after initially announcing that the earthquake was more powerful.

Indonesia experiences regular seismic and volcanic activity due to its location on the "Ring of Fire" in the Pacific Ocean, where several tectonic layers collide.

The deadliest earthquake occurred in Indonesia on December 26, 2004 off the coast of Sumatra, killing more than 230,000 people in Sri Lanka, India and even Thailand.

It caused huge waves, some as high as 30 meters, on the coast of Banda Aceh in northern Sumatra. The magnitude of this earthquake was 9.1 degrees.