US monitors issued an Indian Ocean-wide tsunami watch following a massive earthquake off the coast of Sumatra Wednesday but said it was not yet certain a giant wave had been generated.
"Earthquakes of this size have the potential to generate a widespread destructive tsunami that can affect coastlines across the entire Indian Ocean basin," the US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
The US Geological Survey said the 8.6-magnitude earthquake, revised down from the original 8.7-magnitude, struck off the coast of Sumatra at 2:38 p.m. (0838 GMT) at a depth of 33 kilometers (20.5 miles). USGS had initially reported it as an 8.9-magnitude quake.
The tsunami warning center said it had not yet ascertained whether a tidal wave had been generated but that one was likely given the strength of the temblor, and advised local authorities to take "appropriate action."
Indonesia's disaster management agency said power was down in Aceh province and people were gathering on high ground as sirens warned of the danger.
"The electricity is down, there are traffic jams to access higher ground. Sirens and Koran recitals from mosques are everywhere," said Sutopo, spokesman for the agency.
The quake was felt as far away as the Thai capital, Bangkok, and in southern India, residents said.
Hundreds of office workers in the Indian city of Bangalore left their buildings, workers there said.
The quake was also felt in Sri Lanka and the southern Thai holiday island of Phuket, both of which were hit hard by the 2004 tsunami.
Malaysian authorities issued a tsunami alert for the country's western coastline and warned citizens to stay away from the shore following a massive earthquake in the Indian Ocean.
"We have issued a tsunami alert. We urge people to keep away from the beach in (the states of) Kedah, Perlis, Langkawi, Penang and Perak," Che Gayah Ismail, deputy director-general of the Malaysian Meteorological Department, told AFP.
"People are advised to keep away from the beaches. It is not an evacuation order."
Sri Lanka issued a tsunami warning across the island and the disaster management centre asked residents on the coast to move inland to avoid being hit by any large waves.
A government statement said waves could hit the island's eastern coast by about 1040 GMT and urged an orderly evacuation of the coastal strip.
In the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, nervous crowds gathered on the streets after the strong quake.
"There was a first jolt for five seconds, then a pause and then a really big one. It was really frightening, the whole room was shaking," said 42-year-old tourist Maria Teresa Pizarro from the Philippines.
"You could hear the wood in the furniture cracking, the curtains were moving and the ceiling fan was rattling. I just picked up the children and ran downstairs," she said from the city's coastal Galle Face hotel.
Thailand issued an evacuation order for its Andaman coast, a popular tourist destination. The National Disaster Warning Center advised people in the area to move to higher places and stay as far away as possible from the sea.
"All people along the Andaman coast must evacuate to safe areas. We expect a tsunami 1.6 to 2.0 metres high to hit Phuket and Phang Nga at 5:40 p.m. (1040 GMT)," the center's director Somsak Khaosuwan said on Thai television.
Australian Bonnie Muddle, vacationing in the Thai resort island of Phuket at the time of the quake, said people were being evacuated from popular tourist areas including Krabi and Phang nag bay.
"Everyone is getting a little concerned over here," she told AFP.
The Indian National Center for Ocean Information Service issued a red high-level warning for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, located in the Indian Ocean, and also put out lower alerts for the coasts of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu states in the southeast of the country.
Sri Lanka issued a tsunami warning across the whole island.
On December 26, 2004 a 9.2-magnitude earthquake off Sumatra generated a catastrophic tsunami that wrought devastation across southern Asia, killing an estimated 220,000 people.
Wednesday's quake was in roughly the same area as that of 2004. The 2004 quake was at a depth of 18 miles (30 kilometers) along a fault line running under the Indian Ocean, off western Indonesia and up into the Bay of Bengal.
Last year, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake caused a tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan, killing some 19,000 people.
source: interaksyon.com
