Great Earthquakes In Diverse Places
Strong Earthquake hits India's Andaman Islands
* From: AFP
* June 19, 2010 3:14PM
A strong 5.9 magnitude earthquake hit India's Andaman Islands today,
causing damage to infrastructure on the archipelago.
The quake shook people from their sleep, causing alarm on a string of
islands that were hit by the massive 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, but
there were no reports of casualties.
The USGS said the quake struck at a depth of 27km, with the epicentre
180 kilometres from Port Blair on the Andaman Islands, in the Indian
Ocean.
No tsunami warning was issued.
Government officials said there were no reports of loss of life or
injury but many roads, offices and shops have been damage.
"There are visible cracks on the roads and eight government buildings
have reported damage," said a senior official at the disaster control
room in Diglipur island in North Andaman, 342km from Port Blair.
A police control room official in Port Blair said efforts were being
made to contact some of the more remote islands.
The 572 Andaman and Nicobar Islands, home to more than 350,000 people,
are some of India's most easterly territories, flanked by the Andaman
Sea and the Bay of Bengal.
The Andaman Sea area witnesses frequent earthquakes caused by the
meeting of the Indian tectonic plate with the Burmese microplate along
an area known as the Andaman trench.