63 killed, 250 missing in high tidal waves caused after earthquake hits southern India
HYDERABAD, India: At least 63 people were killed and more than 250 fishermen were missing at sea Sunday after high tidal waves caused by a massive earthquake in Indonesia hit parts of southern India on Sunday, officials said.
At least 36 people were killed in three districts of Andhra Pradesh state and 27 in neighboring Tamil Nadu, they said. At least 200 fishermen from Andhra Pradesh were missing at sea while another 50 from Tamil Nadu were unaccounted for.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. Rajashekhar Reddy told reporters that 22 people were killed in Krishna district, 12 in Prakasam district and two in West Godavari.
"This is the impact of the earthquake in Indonesia this morning. There were tidal waves in the sea and the entire coastal belt from Vishakhapatnam to Nellore (districts) has been effected,'' he said. The tidal waves rose as high as 2 meters (6.56 feet) in some places.
He said water entered the Vishakhapatnam harbor but no casualties were reported there because it was closed for the weekend. Water was receding in some areas but rising in others, and the navy was evacuating people in many low-lying areas, he said.
Earlier, state Chief Secretary Mohan Kanda said 200 Andhra Pradesh fishermen were missing at sea.
In Madras, the capital of neighboring Tamil Nadu state, 27 bodies, presumably of fishermen, were found washed ashore on the popular Marina beach, said the city's fire services chief, S.K. Dogra. He said 50 fishermen were missing in Cuddalore, 180 kilometers (110 miles) south of Madras.
The tidal waves were caused by the 8.5 magnitude earthquake that hit Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia, said B.Y. Swamy, an official of the Indian Meteorological Department in the Indian capital, New Delhi. The department also advised people not to venture out to sea for another two days.
Separately, the U.S. Geological Survey reported that an earthquake of 7.3 magnitude was reported in the Nicobar Islands, a remote sparsely populated Indian territory in the Bay of Bengal, 2,250 kilometers (1400 miles) southeast of New Delhi.
Panic-stricken residents, especially those living in multistory buildings, rushed out of their homes after they were jolted awake in the eastern states of Orissa and West Bengal and the southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Tremors lasting a few seconds were felt around 6.30 a.m. (0100 GMT), PTI said. That was shortly after the quake hit near the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
Rising sea water flooded the huts of nearly 2,500 fishermen living in low lying areas of Madras, also known as Chennai, on India's southeast coast, police said.
In New Delhi, the federal government ordered the navy to help state authorities in rescue operations, and was closely monitoring the situation, NDTV reported.--AP
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