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Over 2000 feared dead in Indonesia quake

     Jakarta: As many as 2,000 people may have been killed in the powerful earthquake that hit the Indonesian island of Nias last night. But Indonesia's Vice-President Jusuf Kalla told the BBC, "more than 1,000 people were possibly dead" in Nias alone - though this was based on an assessment of damaged buildings, not a body count. An official on the island of Nias interviewed by a news channel earlier said the exact death toll was not known. He said many victims had not received medical treatment as the main hospital had been hit by a blackout and many doctors and nurses had fled with other residents to nearby hills, fearing a tsunami, reports The News. Another news channel said about 70 percent part of a city in the Niaz Island, was devastated by a quake measuring 8.7, which jolted it for 2 minutes. The 26 December tsunami killed an estimated 300,000 people in a dozen countries - two-thirds of them in Indonesia, mostly in Aceh province. But many areas hit hard in December did not suffer much on Monday - largely because in places like Banda Aceh there are hardly any buildings standing.

Tsunami fears stalk south India (Go To Top)

     Kochi (Kerala)/Keechankuppam (Tamil Nadu): Fear has struck people across south India following the announcement of another tsunami alert. In Tamil Nadu and Kerala where the tsunami alert was sounded and called off barely a few hours later in the wee hours of Tuesday, people are still in shock and staying huddled together outside their homes. India lifted the tsunami warning, after an 8.7 magnitude earthquake in Indonesia on Monday triggered panic across Asia that it could lead to another devastating tsunami. The epicenter was very close to that of the Dec. 26 quake, measuring 9.0, which triggered a tsunami that left nearly 3,00,000 people dead or missing .

     Though the frenzy has subsided, locals, afraid of the killer waves, moved away from the coastline while the elders kept vigil on children, preventing them from venturing out to the beach. "Such situations are really scary for us. We are very worried, specially about our children," said Nalini, a villager in Kochi. In Tamil Nadu's Nagapattinam region, one of the worst hit by the December.26 disaster and still groping to find normalcy, the effects were stark as homes, streets and beaches remained absolutely deserted. Locals fled to the safer interiors and fishermen kept off the sea.

Tsunami warning in India withdrawn (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: The Centre has withdrawn the tsunami warning it had issued after a massive earthquake struck off an Indonesian coast triggering the fear of recurrence of tsunami in the Indian Ocean region, and asked the coastal residents to return home early today. The authorities in coastal states and Andaman and Nicobar Islands have been, however, asked to keep a watch as a precautionary measure even as no unusual wave activity or rising sea level was reported from any coastal part of the country. After the earthquake measuring 8.2 on the Richter Scale struck off the Indonesian island on Monday night, the government had issued tsunami warning in the coastal areas of Andaman Nicobar, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Lakshadweep. But after four hours, since no unusual sea conditions were reported from these areas, the decision to withdraw the warning was taken. "The earthquake does not appear to have generated tsunamis over the Indian region and in view of this the advise issued earlier by Indian Meteorological Department regarding possibility of tsunami stands cancelled," said S. K. Swami, Director Disaster Management in a statement. "The possibility of danger has passed and people may go back to their homes wherever they have moved on their own or at places moved by the administration," the statement, sent to Chief Secretaries of Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andaman and Nicobar islands and Lakshadweep, said. The statement also said that the Ministry of Home Affairs was continuously monitoring the situation.

PM announces 2 mln dls for Indonesian earthquake victims (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, has announced 2 million dollars for providing relief to the people affected by Monday's earthquake in Indonesia.

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