Chennai's reaction to Earthquake and talk about Tsunami

Chennai’s reaction to Earthquake and ‘tsunami’ news  was more of curiosity rather than one of fear.

Whilst some wondered whether people would be safe or would be afraid of living closer to the beach – the beach road bustled with traffic, probably with all office goers returning home early.

At around 05.15pm, the usually crowded beach had bunch of people curiously looking at the sea. A few could be spotted on the sands even, whilst many thronged the foot-path gazing at the sea with unknown expectations !!

The photos here are taken at Marina beach today (11-4-12) at around 05.15pm and posted more to relate to people not to panic and not to spread rumours

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.

11th Apr 2012 (@ 1745 hrs)

The shores of Marina – you can see the ship and a few boats

 Traffic near Presidency College and some people sitting on the lawns 

Now at 0630 pm – News Update  is that India has withdrawn the tsunami warning issued following a massive earthquake off the east coast of Indonesia. Earlier, the Earth sciences ministry and the National Disaster Management Authority issued a tsuanmi warning for Andaman and Nicobar Island and an alert to coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Later, in subsequent bulletions, the two organisations virtually ruled out tsunami in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and elsewhere in the country.

"There is no specific threat. It was a watch and alert. There is no likelihood of any tsunami in the Indian Ocean region," NDMA Vice President Sashidhar Reddy told PTI. He said the earthquake that struck the Sumatra islands was not the kind of tremors that usually triggers tsunami tidal waves.  The initial projections issued by the Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC) showed the tidal waves triggered by the quake hitting parts of Nicobar, Komatra and Katchal minutes after it struck the region at 14:08 IST.