Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: The Meteorological Department on Wednesday sought to play down the possible danger triggered by a massive quake in Indonesia, saying there was no need to panic.
Elaborating on the sequence, the Director of Seismology Division, R S Dattatreya told media , “The 8.6 magnitude quake occurred at 2.09 pm today with the epicenter in the North of Sumatra.”
He said that alerts have been issued to coastal states. People have been asked to keep away from beaches and fishermen told to suspend plans of going to sea.
People in Andaman and Nicobar Islands have been asked to evacuate from coastal regions and move inwards.
Dattatreya said that aftershocks were possible, but there seems to be no immediate danger.
However, the Met department revealed that Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu have felt shock waves.
When asked about reports coming from eastern India, the official said that it was likely that they may face more tremors.
India is about 1,845 kms away from the epicenter.
First Published: Wednesday, April 11, 2012, 15:33