Indonesia has been on alert of a possible tsunami on Friday afternoon and under preparedness following an 8.9-magnitude quake hit Japan, an Indonesian official said in Jakarta.

The Indonesian Meteorology and Geophysics Agency has issued a tsunami warning after the quake and said that the tsunami was likely to arrive at northern parts of North Sulawesi, North Maluku and Papua, at eastern parts of Indonesia, at 6: 35 p.m. Jakarta time (1135 GMT) on Friday.

The authorities have asked the people to stay away from coastal areas and reach higher ground, troops and volunteers have been prepared for helping the victims, boats and ships were asked to be tied at seaports, officials said.

"We and the local authorities have ordered the people in coastal areas to reach higher ground," Hartje Robert, spokesman of the National Disaster Management and Mitigation Agency told Xinhua.

Troops and volunteers equipped with helicopters have been ready to give their assistance when needed, he said.

"They are now waiting for an order from president for deployment," said Roberts.

In Manado, the area forecast to be hit by a tsunami first, people were panic after the authorities order them to leave coastal areas, according to a local television.

It was reported that the waters were predicted to enter the land 0.5-1 meter above the sea level.

Indonesia's Aceh was hit by a tsunami in December 2004, which killed over 170,000 people.