Woman walks among the ruins of her house in West Sumatra province
A woman walks among the ruins of her house that was damaged by the earthquake and tsunami in the village of Eruk Sapaan, Mentawai Islands, in West Sumatra province November 2, 2010. Officials said the death toll from a tsunami that hit the remote western Mentawai islands on Monday is now at least 400. The tsunami was triggered on October 25 by a 7.5 magnitude quake. REUTERS

A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck 270 miles southwest of Banda Aceh in Indonesia's Sumatra region, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, prompting local officials to issue a tsunami warning.

It was centered 18 miles beneath the ocean floor. It also was 590 miles west of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

There were no immediate reports of damage.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center promptly issued a statement saying coasts near the epicenter could be affected by a tsunami, but the threat was not widespread.

A destructive widespread tsunami threat does not exist based on historical earthquake and tsunami data, the statement said. However, there is a very small possibility of a local tsunami that could affect coasts located usually no more than 100 kilometers from the earthquake epicenter. Authorities in the region near the epicenter should be made aware of this possibility.

Indonesia is prone to seismic upheaval because of its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin, The Associated Press reported.

A deadly tsunami of December 2004 which was centered near Sumatra eventually killed more than 230,000.

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