Quake jolts east coast

A strong earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale struck north of the Andaman Islands early on Tuesday and jolted not just the archipelago but also large parts of eastern India, from Jharkhand right down the east coast till Tamil Nadu, as well as Bangladesh. No casualties were reported.

The quake in the Bay of Bengal that struck at 1.25 am led to tremors in several parts of  Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. It also led to a tsunami warning that was later withdrawn. Thousands of people spent the entire night on roads and fields fearing aftershocks.

The Meteorological Department here reported the epicentre of the quake at latitude 14.10 north and longitude 93.00 east, just north of the Andaman Islands, and 1,020 km southeast of the Orissa capital Bhubaneswar where the jolt was clearly felt. “No casualties have been reported so far,” sources in the Orissa revenue control room said.