Tsunami Alerts in India

The Web site of India's National Centre for Ocean Information Services issued a warning for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Indian Ocean, where a tsunami – if triggered – could result in waves as high as 6.3 meters. The warning advised people to move inland toward higher grounds and advised vessels to move into deep ocean territory. India issued tsunami warnings and alerts Wednesday for several of its states and territories following a 8.6 magnitude earthquake off the western coast of Northern Sumatra in Indonesia. Television news channels showed police in India's southern city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu state calling on people to evacuate the coastline. The tsunami set off an international warning system of censors and communications relays that was put into place after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that left close to a quarter of a million people dead. In its bulletin, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said that "earthquakes of this size have the potential to generate a widespread destructive tsunami that can affect coastlines across the entire Indian Ocean Basin." It said a tsunami had not yet been detected.