Moderate 5.1 magnitude quake hits Andamans, no Tsunami warning issued

A moderate intensity earthquake jolted the Andaman islands on Friday, said an official of the India Meteorological Department. “Earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale has hit Andaman region at 2.29 pm,” an IMD official told IANS. The epicentre of the quake was 135 km southwest of Port Blair. MET Director GL Gautam said, “We are monitoring the quake in Andamans. The quake was not that strong that it can cause any damage… It has got nothing to do with Nepal quake, it occurred in an active seismic zone.” [caption id=“attachment_1375435” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Andaman Islands. Reuters[/caption] No loss of life or property was immediately reported and there was no Tsunami warning issued. Earlier on Friday, another 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit Papua New Guinea, 106 kilometres south-southwest of the town of Kokopo, the US Geological Survey said, just a day after a 6.7 magnitude tremor in the region. “The earthquake was a measure of 7.1, so that’s about 30 times smaller than the (recent) earthquake in Nepal. “It should be like the one yesterday – no real impact.” New Britain, the largest island of the Bismarck Archipelago, is east of mainland New Guinea and has a population of around 500,000 people. (With inputs from AFP)