Met dept withdraws Tsunami alert

Hyderabad, Aug 11 :

The Meteorological Department withdrew Tsunami alert issued following a strong earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale hit the several places in coastal Andhra Pradesh in the wee hours of Tuesday.

Though no casualty was reported from any part of the coastal region, there was widespread panic among the people.

The panic-stricken people rushed out of their houses in many areas and they did not enter the houses even three hours after the earthquake.

The official sources said the region was rattled by the tremors early this morning, bringing back memories of devastating Tsunami of December 2004.

The administration which earlier issued the Tsunami warning, later withdrew it as there were no signs of Tsunami in the coastal areas.

The epicentre of the earthquake was located at about 260 km north of Port Blair in the Indian Ocean, Meteorological department officials said.

Mild tremors were also felt in Patamata Madhuranagar, Singhnagar, Payakayapuram and Vambay colony in Vijaywada.

In Visakhapatnam, residents of Seethammadhara, Waltair, MVP colony and Simhachalam areas felt the tremors and complaints of cracks in houses were also reported from other places.