Chennai: Mild tremors were felt in some parts of the city as an earthquake of moderate intensity, measuring 5.1 on the Richter Scale, occurred in the sea this morning.
Talking to reporters, Deputy Director General of Meteorology, RMD, S Balachandran, said the quake occurred at 7.02 am at a depth of 10 km in the sea over the central west Bay of Bengal and 600 km east of Chennai.
He said the quake was recorded in the seismological centres at Chennai and at Port Blair.
Following the quake, mild tremors were felt at some parts of Chennai and North Andaman areas.
Balachandran said no tsunami warning was issued following the quake.
“Since it happened in the sea, there is no damage,” he added.
A number of Chennaiites took to social media saying they felt mild tremors this morning.
The IMD tweeted:
‘Earthquake of Magnitude:5.1
Occurred on: 12-02-2019, 07:02:27 IST
Lat:14.5 N & Long: 85.7 E
Depth: 10 km
Region: Bay of Bengal.
Memories of the 2004 tsunami were kindled, but the Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre quickly dismissed it with a system alert: ‘Based on historical earthquake and tsunami data, tsunami threat does not exist for the Indian Ocean. IOTWMS-TSP India will monitor sea level gauges near to epicentre and report if any tsunami activity is observed.’