A string of earthquakes jolted the Andaman and Nicobar Islands over a 12-hour period on Sunday. The tremors were also felt in southern and eastern India.
There was some panic but no casualties or property damage anywhere, officials said. By evening, life returned to normal in the islands.
The first quake of 7.7 magnitude took place 56 seconds past midnight on Saturday night, followed by a second one of 5.3 magnitude at 4.14 a.m. on Sunday. Two more quakes of 5.1 magnitude were reported at 11 a.m. and 11.56 a.m.
Tremors were also felt in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, officials said.
“We did feel the quake. But life is normal here now. No property damage has been reported in Port Blair,” S. Jaikumaran Nair, chairman of the Port Blair Municipal Council, told IANS over telephone from the Andamans.
The Hyderabad-based Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services told IANS that a ‘tsunami watch' notice issued after the Sunday quake was withdrawn 90 minutes later.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a Regional Watch notice covering India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia. It later scaled it down to India alone.
The Central Seismological Observatory Centre, Shillong, said the quake took place at 12.57 a.m. on the west coast of the Nicobar Island. The epicentre was located at latitude 7.9 degree north and longitude 91.9 degree east.
Several parts of coastal Orissa also experienced mild tremors, officials said in Bhubaneswar.
Correction
The third paragraph of an IANS/PTI report “String of quakes jolts Andaman & Nicobar” (June 14, 2010, page 1) said that the first quake of 7.7 magnitude took place 56 seconds past midnight on Saturday night. It should have been 56 minutes (12:56:50 a.m.).