Tsunami alert after huge quake off India: US Geological Survey

NEW DELHI: A huge 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck off the Andaman Islands between India and Myanmar on Tuesday, triggering a tsunami alert across the Indian Ocean, the US Geological Survey reported.

The quake hit around 263 kilometres (163 miles) north of Port Blair, the main town in the Andamans, and was around 33 kilometres (20.2 miles) deep, said a USGS statement.

The epicenter was also around 364 kilometres (226 miles) southwest of the Irriwaddy Delta region of Myanmar which was devastated by a huge cyclone in May last year that left over 138,000 people dead.

The USGS said a tsunami watch had been issued for India, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand and Bangladesh.

India's Andaman Islands were hit by the 2004 Asian tsunami which was triggered by an earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra and sent giant waves crashing into countries around the Indian Ocean.

The 2004 tsunami killed more than 220,000 people, most of them in the northern Indonesian province of Aceh. Thousands of people were also killed in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and India.

There was no immediate response from the authorities in India or Myanmar to the latest quake and tsunami alert.

The quake appeared to be only around 100 kilometres (62 miles) north of the main land mass of the Andaman Islands.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are some of India' most eastern pieces of territory. Over 350,000 people live in the territory flanked by the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal, and it comprises some 572 islands.

The Andaman Sea area witnesses frequent earthquakes caused by the meeting of the Indian plate with the Burmese microplate along an area known as the Andaman trench.