CHENNAI: A major earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale rocked the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and parts of coastal south India at 9.12 p.m. on Sunday. There were no reports of loss of life or damage to property.

According to the Indian Meteorological Department, the epicentre of the earthquake was in the seabed 420 km south of Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The United States Geological Survey, which measured the earthquake as 7.0 on the Richter scale, said it was located at a depth of 10 km.

In the Nicobar group of islands, people felt the temblor for about 15 seconds. However, there was no rise in the sea level, which is an indicator of a tsunami. In New Delhi, Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said the current situation did not justify a tsunami warning. "There is nothing to worry about at the moment. We are keeping a vigil and there is no rise in the sea to suggest a tsunami is waiting to hit. There should be no panic," he said.

But the Disaster Management Control room has been activated and it will remain in touch with authorities in the islands and in Tamil Nadu. Lt. Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Ram Kapse said in Port Blair there had been no reports of death or destruction, but the island administration had sounded an alert and asked the people to stay away from the shores. The tremors came in the wake of unusually high tides in the last two days, which submerged many low-lying areas in the islands.

Union Home Secretary (Border Management) D.K. Sankaran said: "We do not want to create unnecessary panic by issuing any advisory."

Authorities in Thailand issued a tsunami warning late on Sunday for the southwest coast, including Phuket, which is close to the Andamans. Thailand's National Warning Preparedness Centre warned that the underwater earthquake could cause a tsunami and ordered emergency planning for such an event. However, as the estimated time of the tsunami lapsed, they withdrew the warning.

In Sri Lanka, the tremors were felt in Colombo and some other districts including Kandy and Matale. A meteorological department official ruled out any threat of a tsunami. Aceh province in Indonesia too felt the impact of the quake.

Residents in Port Blair and other parts of the Andamans as also in Chennai experienced mild tremors. People ran out of multi-storeyed apartments in Chennai.

Sunday's quake was the third hitting the Andamans this month. On July 2, a magnitude 5.1 quake hit North Andaman and 11 days later, another quake of 5.5 struck a region off the west coast of Little Andaman.

According to R.K. Chadha, senior seismologist in the National Geophysical Research Institute, the tremors appeared to be a belated aftershock of the December 26 temblor. They occurred in the same fault zone extending from Sumatra to Andamans.

Earlier in the day, a 5.3 magnitude quake shook north Sumatra in Indonesia at 4.23 a.m. (IST) and another quake measuring 4.3 hit Tokyo and its vicinity at 2.43 p.m. (IST).

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