Tremors were felt in several parts of India this afternoon after massive earthquake had hit Indonesia’s Aceh province today.  The earthquake was recorded as 8.7 on Richter scale. The Indian cities where mild tremors were felt include Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Vizag.  Following the earthquake, the government has issued tsunami warnings to eastern part of the country and Andaman islands. Navy and coast guards are on high alert in Vishakapatnam, Chennai, Kochi and Portblair.

Meanwhile, National Disaster Management Authority has said that there were no chances of tsunami in India.  It may be noted that Indonesia is frequently hit by tsunami and Pacific  Tsunami Warning Centre has hinted at possible tsunami attack to Banda Ace.  Notably,  Indian Ocean tsunami in 21004 claimed 17,000 lives in Aceh.  The tremors in India lasted about 15 seconds that reportedly shocked the people.

People were reportedly running out of their homes in Bhuvaneshwar and the situation was almost the same in several parts of the country. In Chennai, the cops used megaphones to ask people to leave from beach. Bangalore being close to Chennai, tremors were even felt in Garden City. We quickly managed to talk to one Joy Das in Bangalore and this is what he said: “I was at office and was feeling that the building was going to collapse. Felt jolts. Such a strange situation.” (Phani)