New Delhi, July 17
A high alert was sounded in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and West Bengal following an earthquake struck beneath the Indian Ocean off the coast of Indonesia around 1.49 p.m. Additional Director-General (seismology), Indian Meteorological Department, A.K. Bhatnagar told The Tribune that as far as India was concerned, the distance from the southern-most tip till the epi-centre off the coast of Indonesia was between 3,500 and 4,000 km. The epicentre of today’s quake was located about 900 or 1,000 km southeast of the epicenter of the 2004-tremblor.
The Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, mainly the southern tip which was nearer to Indonesia, had been alerted after a meeting of the Disaster Management Committee. The December-2004 tsunami, which crashed into the Andaman and Nicobar islands, had resulted in large-scale death and destruction.
Vulnerable areas like Indira Point, the southern-most tip of India, islands in the Cambell Bay, Sachchal Island, the entire Car Nicobar Island and Defence establishments in the island have been put on alert.
The central ministry has been in constant touch with officials in coastal areas. Meanwhile, The Indian Ocean Department issued no tsunami warning as there was no significant rise in sea water level off Indian coast.
UNI adds from Chennai: The Coastal districts of Tamil Nadu have been put on high alert in the wake of the severe undersea earthquake in Indonesia.
Though there was no threat of the deadly December-2004 tsunami revisiting India, today’s quake triggered some anxious moments initially in the coastal districts.
As TV screens flashed the news of the severe quake, people in the coastal districts got unnerved about the possible revisit of the killer waves which wrought havoc on December, 2004.
