Strong quake hits Andamans archipelago

PORT BLAIR: A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck India's Andaman islands on Saturday, prompting residents, fearful of a repeat of the deadly 2004 tsunami, to flee their homes, geologists and witnesses said.

The earthquake occurred at 1:20 am, some 115 kilometres south-southwest of Port Blair, according to the US Geological Survey.

There were no reports of damage or casualties following the quake, which occurred at a depth of 45 kilometres.

But residents of the archipelago wrecked by the December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami raced from their homes and sought higher ground.

"The memories of 2004 are still vivid on their minds so when the quake struck, the level of panic was much greater," said C. Palaniswamy, council chief of tsunami-shattered Hut Bay island.

Officials both in the Andamans and at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said that Saturday's quake had not sparked a tsunami alert.

"Nevertheless, people were in great panic," said Poritosh Haldar, a college teacher in Port Blair.

The Andaman and Nicobar chain of more than 500 islands, 58 of them inhabited, was hit hard by the earthquake-triggered tsunami two years ago.

Initially, officials said 3,000 people had been killed in the disaster and 5,500 others left missing, but authorities recently drastically revised the death toll down to 454, with 3,073 others listed as missing.