A major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale shook Andaman and Nicobar Islands early on Sunday, triggering a tsunami alert which was later withdrawn.
No casualties have been reported due to the quake. Tremors were felt across Chennai sending shock waves among public who panicked and rushed to the streets, some spending more than an hour on the road before getting back to bed. Following the quake, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre and the Indian National Centre issued a tsunami alert for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) along the east coast of the country. The alerts were withdrawn later during the day by the agencies after they failed to notice any significant change in the sea level after the quake, officials at the INCOIS said. The Central Seismological Observatory Centre, Shillong, said the quake took place at around 12.57 am at a spot off the west coast of Nicobar Island in the Indian Ocean.
The epicentre of the quake was located at latitude 7.9 degree north and longitude 91.9 degree east, the observatory said. Deputy commissioner of Nicobar district T. Srikanth said a tsunami watch alert was issued after the major earthquake jolted the island. “We had given a tsunami watch alert for about one and a half hours. We have revoked it. The situation is normal and it is being monitored,” he said. No loss of life or damage to property was reported, Mr Srikanth said. The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre had issued a warning for the entire Indian Ocean region which later was downgraded to a warning for India and was subsequently called off.
“Sea level readings indicate that a significant tsunami was not generated,” the centre said in a bulletin.
According to the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in Chennai, three aftershocks were recorded. “The aftershocks measuring 5.3, 5.1 and again 5.1 on the Richter scale at 4.04 am, 11.56 am and 12.35 pm on Sunday,” deputy director general, RMC, Mr Y.E.A. Raj said. Fire service officials said that tremors were felt in at least 18 locations in Chennai including Mandaveli, Triplicane, Perungudi, Adyar, Kodambakkam, Triplicane and even as far as Korattur and Vepery.
Police teams rushed to the Chennai coast and evacuated fishermen from their homes fearing a repeat of the 2004 tsunami that swallowed thousands of lives. But no such warning reached the districts as fishermen slept blissfully in their homes that remain dangerously close to the sea.