Residents in Nagekeo regency, the area closest to the epicentre, raced for higher ground as the sea retreated -- a possible sign of an approaching tsunami, AFP journalists saw.The warning was later lifted.The epicentre of the shallow quake was located off the north coast of the island, about 68 kilometres (42 miles) northwest of the coastal town of Ende, US and Indonesian authorities said. The initial jolt was followed by strong aftershocks in the same area, including one with a magnitude of 6.1."Suddenly it started to shake and I panicked," 31-year-old hospital customer service official and Maumere resident, Lukas Lotar, told AFP."Patients also fled the hospital, the jolt was big. I saw some walls were cracked," he said.A resident in Nagekeo, Yohanes Babo, 56, said he was at a market when the earth started shaking."The shaking was strong. Thankfully, we were already outside the house," he told AFP. "People were panicking, running here and there. We're evacuating for the time being... and trying to get to the hills," he said, adding: "My family is safe. No one was harmed." Evacuation urgedIndonesia's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) warned of the possibility of tsunami waves following the quake and urged people to get to higher ground."We strongly urge our communities along the northern coast of Flores and in the southern parts, on the southern islands and across the southern region, to carry out self-evacuation immediately," Abdul Muhari, an official at the national disaster agency, BNPB, said.