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Earthquake In Chennai

April 11, 2012 by · Comments Off on Earthquake In Chennai 

Earthquake In Chennai, A second round of tremors was felt in India in cities like Kolkata and Chennai at 4.25 pm as a tsunami alert remained in place for 28 countries including India. Indonesia has issued a new tsunami warning following an aftershock that hovered around 8.2 on the Richter scale.

The original earthquake struck Indonesia at 2.08 pm, and measured 8.6 on the Richter scale hit Indonesia, spurring warnings of a possible tsunami.

Officials in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have prepped for emergency processes and remain on high alert. Press Trust of India reports that the government has evacuated some people from South Andaman as a precaution.

“No waves have been noticed so far in Andaman and Nicobar Islands; a tsunami has been virtually ruled out,” said Sasidhra Reddy, an official with the National Disaster Relief Management.

But just in case, six teams of 40 people each from the National Disaster Relief Force are positioned at Hindon near Delhi, and at Chennai, in case they need to be rushed to the Andamans. Two C-130 J heavy-lift aircrafts of the Indain Air Force are leaving for Port Blair with NDRF teams and 10 tonnes of relief material.

“As of now there are no signs of a tsunami,” said the Home Secretary RK Singh earlier this evening. But he said the union government is in constant touch with officials in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Odisha.

The minutes after the first quake saw emergency drills in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. On the beaches at Chennai, policemen used megaphones to ask people to leave, with little effect. Mobile phone networks were jammed in the city till 4 pm. In Andhra Pradesh, fishermen were asked to return from sea. In the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, civilians were asked to move to higher ground. In Kolkata, metro trains were stopped at 2.40 pm for nearly an hour; as a precaution, passengers were evacuated.

The quake was felt in Singapore, Thailand and India. High-rise apartments and offices on Malaysia’s west coast shook for at least a minute.

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