Tsunami alert issued for Andaman and Nicobar Islands

The Ministry of Home Affairs today issued a Tsunami alert for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands after an earthquake of magnitude 8.0 Richter Scale struck southern Indonesia.

New Delhi, Sept 12 : The Ministry of Home Affairs today issued a Tsunami alert for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands after an earthquake of magnitude 8.0 Richter Scale struck southern Indonesia.

"The Islands administration has been advised to take all precautionary measures to alert the people in the coastal areas and be in the highest state of preparedness," a Ministry release said.

Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Pondicherry have also been asked to maintain a vigil, the release added.

The Home Ministry is monitoring the situation constantly.

As per information received from the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (NCOIS), Hyderabad, an earthquake of magnitude 8.0 occurred in southern Sumatra, Indonesia at about 4.41 p.m. IST today.

The earthquake was centred about 15.6 kilometres underground, in the southern Sumatra area.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning for wide areas of the region.

ANI