Tsunami alerts across countries after Indonesia quake

Even as the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre sounded a tsunami alert in 28 places across the world after a massive earthquake rocked Indonesia earlier today, individual countries have come out with their own alerts on it and in some cases advised evacuation. In India, the Tsunami centre in Hyderabad has issued a notice for the evacuation of its beaches and train services on the Kolkata metro have been stopped. The earthquake which was centred 33 kilometres beneath the ocean floor off Banda Aceh, measured 8.9 on the Richter scale and was felt off the west coast of northern Sumatra in Indonesia Wednesday, the  US Geological Survey said  earlier on Wednesday. [caption id=“attachment_272616” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“People in Kolkata after tremors struck the city today. PTI”] [/caption] According to a PTI news report, Kolkata and its neighbouring areas were rocked by mild tremors due to the high intensity earthquake off the coast of Sumatra today and some buildings on Park street in the metropolis reportedly developed cracks. Tremors were also felt in North 24 Parganas adjoining Kolkata and in the north Bengal town of Siliguri, officials told PTI. The Kolkata Metro Rail services in the city were suspended from 2:42 pm and passengers were asked to vacate stations. Meanwhile, Chennai’s port has been shut due to a tsunami watch issued for the whole Indian Ocean, two port authority officials told Reuters. A spokesperson for the India National Centre for Ocean Information Services has said that the tsunami warning is just a heads up and there is nothing to worry about yet. Satish Mathur, Secretrary to Lt Governor, Andaman and spokesperson said no casualties have been reported so far and there are no reports of damage, following reports that a tsunami was scheduled to hit Nicobar at 2.40pm. According to PTI, tremors were also felt in Chennai, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram and several other cities across South India. But there have been no immediate reports of damage to property or a loss of lives. Sri Lanka’s Meteorological Department too issued a tsunami warning on Wednesday following the earthquake. “There is a threat of tsunami due to the earthquake in Indonesia. We ask all people in the coastal area to move to safer areas,” a Meteorological Department official, told Reuters. Tremors were felt in several parts of the island nation and many people were seen evacuating offices near the World Trade Centre in Colombo. Countries including Malaysia, Singapore, Nepal and Sri Lanka have all reported tremors. The Thai provinces of Phuket and Phangnga also issued tsunami warnings, with its disaster prevention authorities ordering evacuation of people. “The province has turned on the warning sirens and asked people all over Phuket island to move to a safe place,” an official from the Phuket Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Centre told Reuters by telephone. An official from the warning centre Phangnga told Reuters: “We warn people in every district to evacuate immediately because there is a possibility of a tsunami.” Phuket and Phangnga are provinces popular with tourists and were among those hit by the 2004 Indian Ocena tsunami that killed more than 5,000 people in Thailand. Meanwhile, Indonesia’s Disaster Mitigation Agency on Wednesday reported a 6.5 magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale following an 8.7 magnitude temblor off the coast of the country’s Aceh province. Following the tremor, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a tsunami watch for 28 countries, including Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Australia, Myanmar, Thailand, Maldives, Britain, Malaysia, Mauritius, Syechelles, Pakistan, Somalia, Oman, Madagascar, Iran, UAE, Yemen, Bangladsh, Tanzania, Mozambique, Kenya, South Africa and Singapore. Indonesia straddles a series of fault lines that makes the vast island nation prone to volcanic and seismic activity. A giant 9.1-magnitude quake off the country on December 26, 2004, triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed 230,000 people, nearly three quarter of them in Aceh. Agencies