With a tsunami alert issued by the government on Wednesday afternoon, boatmen at Nambiyar Nagar in Nagapattinam left their boats anchored on the coast. The warning was issued for many coastal regions of different states of the country after an earthquake of 8.9 magnitude hit waters off western coast of northern Sumatra. Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC) projections showed tidal waves triggered by the quake hitting these areas. The warning was withdrawn later.
A senior official expressed satisfaction over the fact that the standard operating procedure formulated after a series of discussions with international and national experts worked perfectly. A system similar to the one at the Hyderabad based Tsunami Warning Centre is also in place at the headquarters of the Indian Meteorological Department at Delhi as a backup.
