The epicentre of the quake was 299 km northeast of Timor Leste's capital, Dili, but city residents said they did not feel the tremors or receive a tsunami alert from local authorities.

'We have lifted the warning, but we will continue to monitor information from the area,' said Fauzi, head of the earthquake centre at the Indonesian meteorology office.

The US Geological Survey put the quake at 6.2 magnitude and at a depth of 10 km.

'I didn't feel anything,' said Reuters photographer Lirio da Fonseca, a Dili resident.

Mr Fauzi said his office gave Timor Leste equipment last year to receive quake alerts.

'I hope they are using it so they can receive tsunami alerts.' -- REUTERS