Panic as tremor shakes Mangalore, other parts of Coastal Karnataka

Mangalore, April 11: Low-intensity tremors were felt in several parts of Karnataka including in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts on Wednesday afternoon, causing panic among residents who rushed out of their homes and apartments out of fear.

The Nalapad Residency at Light House Hill and few other buildings felt the vibration a few minutes after a massive earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 8.9 hit waters off westernmost Aceh province in Indonesia.

It is learnt that in the office of Deputy Commissioner, near State Bank Bus terminus in the city also a few staff experienced the vibration.

In Manipal the tremors were experienced in several buildings around 2:10 pm. Students at Manipal Institute of Technology ran out of the class rooms when the furniture at third and fourth floors of the building began to vibrate suddenly.

In the head office of Udayavani Kannada daily, rotating chairs started to move creating panic among the staff, sources said. People at KMC Hospital and Mandavi Pearl in Manipal were also experienced the vibration.

Slight tremors were also experienced in Moodbidri, Sullia, Kundapur, Karwar and other parts of coastal districts. However, no casualty or major damage to property was reported from these places.

Meanwhile, tsunami warning has been issued for several South Indian cities including Mangalore.

Mobile phone networks were jammed in some areas. Fishermen, who had left for fishing from Mangalore Fishing Port, were asked to return from sea.

In Bangalore, metro trains were stopped were stopped half way through. 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.

Indonesia:

Indonesia has issued a tsunami warning after an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 8.9 hit waters off westernmost Aceh province. 

The US Geological Survey said on Wednesday the quake was centered 20 miles (33 kilometers) beneath the ocean floor around 308 miles (495 kilometers) from the provincial capital of Banda Aceh.

An official at Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency who goes by only one name, said a tsunami warning has been issued.

TV reports claimed that tsunami warning has been issued to as many as 28 countries.

Indonesia straddles a series of fault lines that makes the vast island nation prone to volcanic and seismic activity.

A giant 9.1-magnitude quake off the country on Dec 26, 2004, triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed 230,000 people, nearly three quarter of them in Aceh.