Sumatra quake: 12 NDRF teams kept on stand

Six teams of National Disaster Response Force have been kept in readiness at Chennai.

New Delhi: Six teams of National Disaster
Response Force have been kept in readiness at Chennai and an
equal number moved to Hindon airport to deal with any
eventuality in the wake of on Wednesday`s massive tremors off the
western coast of northern Sumatra in Indonesia.

A Home Ministry spokesperson said the Andaman
Administration has moved people from Nicobar side to safer
areas as a precautionary measure.

The ministry has asked the Chief Secretaries of Andaman
and Nicobar Islands and all eastern coastal states to issue an
alert, the spokesperson said in a statement.

The precautionary drill was initiated in the wake of an
alert issued by the Indian National Centre for Ocean
Information Services (INCOIS) following an earthquake of 8.5
magnitude on the Richter scale at 1409 hrs (IST) in Indonesia
today. It was revised from the earlier figure of 8.9
magnitude. This was followed by another temblor.

The eastern coastal states have been asked to advise
fishermen not to venture out in the sea, the spokesperson
said.

Earlier in the day, Union Home Secretary R K Singh
reviewed the situation in the aftermath of the quake.
After the meeting, Singh said there was no cause for
panic along India`s coastline and the Government is ready to
deal with any eventuality.

After speaking to Chief Secretaries of Odisha and Tamil
Nadu, Singh said as of now there are no signs of tsunami.
In the meantime, NDRF teams have been deployed and kept
on standby as a precautionary measure.

"Six teams have moved to Chennai. In addition, six more
teams have moved to Hindon airport. Airlift will be organised
by the Air Force in case these teams need to be flown," the
spokesperson said.

PTI

Zee News App: Read latest news of India and world, bollywood news, business updates, cricket scores, etc. Download the Zee news app now to keep up with daily breaking news and live news event coverage.