A tsunami warning has not been issued for the surrounding islands.
The impact of the earthquake was felt as far as 600km away in Darwin, the capital of Australia's Northern Territory.
Around 1,700 of its residents have reported feeling tremors early on Thursday, according to Geoscience.
The Volcano Discovery website said, based on preliminary seismic data, the earthquake was likely felt by "many" people in the area of the epicentre.
But it should not have caused "significant damage", other than objects falling from shelves and broken windows.
Volcano Discovery added in Lospalos, which has a population of 17,200, Baucau (population 16,000) 160km away and Venilale (population 16,000) 176km away, the quake should have been felt as "light shaking".
It added a second report issued later by Geoscience Australia (GeoAu) listed the earthquake as magnitude 7.5.
Other agencies reporting the same quake include France's Réseau National de Surveillance Sismique (RéNaSS) at magnitude 7.0, and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) at magnitude 7.2.
Indonesia has a history of devastating earthquakes, with more than 4,000 people killed during the Sulawesi quake in 2018.
The massive magnitude 7.5 quake was located 70km from the provincial capital Palu and was felt as far away as Samarinda on East Kalimantan and also in Tawau, Malaysia.
Following this, a localised tsunami struck Palu, sweeping shore-lying houses and buildings on its way.
The combined effect of both the earthquake and tsunami led to the deaths of around 4,340 people, making it the deadliest earthquake worldwide in 2018.
© EXPRESSIndonesia earthquake: World's deadliest earthquakes
It also dawned on me that I don't recall hearing about either of the quakes in China or Pakistan that killed more than 80k people. And the Sumatra quake killed more people than live in the city I am in by about 5k people.