NDMA rules out tsunami threat to India

                                                    
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in Delhi on Wednesday appealed to people, particularly near coastal areas to not panic as there was no tsunami threat to India, after the massive earthquake in Indonesia.
"Initially there was a tsunami threat, but it is not so now. The alert was issued as a precautionary step. There is no tsunami waves noticed so far in Andaman and Nicobar Islands," National Disaster Management Authority vice-chairman V Shashidhar Reddy said.
While the India Meteorological Department (IMD) put the Sumatra quake's intensity at 8.5 on Richter scale, the US Geological Survey classified it an 8.6 temblor.
The earthquake occurred at 2.08pm as per the IMD.

"So far, there is no tsunami threat," he said on national television.
In India too the National Disaster Management Authority said there was no likelihood of tsunami being formed anywhere in the Indian Ocean.
Earlier on Wednesday, India issued a tsunami warning for Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the eastern coast after a 8.7 magnitude quake in Indonesia shook major cities, causing panic and sending people fleeing onto the streets.
Hundreds of office workers in the Bangalore left their buildings while the Indian port of Chennai closed down because of the danger of a tsunami, the port said.
Indonesia's disaster management agency said power was down in Aceh province and people were gathering on high ground as sirens warned of the danger.
"The electricity is down, there are traffic jams to access higher ground. Sirens and Koran recitals from mosques are everywhere," said Sutopo, spokesman for the agency.
The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Service issued a red high-level warning for the islands, and also put out lower alerts for the coasts of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Largest earthquakes since 1900
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued 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.