Panic gripped the residents of Port Blair and other islands of the Andaman & Nicobar archipelago on Wednesday after the tsunami alert, while in Jakarta high-rise towers wobbled, water sloshed from swimming pools and panicky office workers ran into the streets.
The cloud of panic lifted in Andamans after the sea showed no trace of tsunami waves.
The memories of devastating tsunami of December 26,2004 still green in their minds, people residing in the coastal areas of the capital city in the island and neighbouring places fled to higher grounds immediately after the tsunami alert.
“There has been no report of any tsunami-triggered waves lashing Car Nicobar or Indira Point which got an early hit in the deadly tsunami a couple of years ago,” Commander M K Singh said. “However, there is no reason to be complacent as we’ll continue to be on high alert as there is always the possibility of aftershocks,” Commander Singh explained.
In the Indonesian capital power supply was knocked out and phone lines went dead.
“I saw some parts of houses crumbled to the ground but not huge damage. People ran out of their homes,” said Ayu Claudia, a resident of Bengkulu in a brief conversation before the phone lines went down.
A reporter in the city from ElShinta radio said that patients at a maternity hospital were being shifted outside, and that the streets were clogged with people trying to flee to higher ground.
“The main streets are busy with vehicles, cars and motorcycles, heading to higher areas,” she said before her phone was cut.