Magnitude 6 quake jolts Nicobar Islands region

A strong earthquake of magnitude 6 hit the seismically active Andaman and Nicobar Islands Thursday, the National Centre for Seismology (NCS) said.

There was no report of loss of life or damage to property.

The earthquake hit the region at 8.43 am and its epicentre was the Nicobar Islands region, the NCS, an institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) tracking seismological activities, said.

No tsunami alert was issued as sea levels around the Andaman Nicobar archipelago showed no major rise, said SPS Shenoi, Director, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS).

The INCOIS is an institute under the MoES and it has a network buoy and other apparatus to check the rise in the sea level in case of a tsunami. It alerts not only the Indian authorities but also its neighbours in case of a tsunami.

The earthquake of magnitude 6 is considered to be strong, said NCS Director Vineet Kumar Gahalaut.

All of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands lie in Zone V. The entire island chain is also prone to tsunamis both from large local quakes and also from massive distant shocks.