Indonesia tsunami warning after 8.7 quake

WASHINGTON, April 11, 2012 (AFP) – 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 an 8.7-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra at 2:38 pm (0838 GMT, 4.38pm Singapore time) 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.”

Meanwhile India has also issued a tsunami warning for the Andaman and Nicobars islands located in the Indian Ocean.

The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Service issued a red high-level warning for the islands, and also put out lower alerts for the coasts of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu states in the southeast of the country.

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.

Last year, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake caused a tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan, killing some 19,000 people.