Major 7.6 quake hits off India's Andaman Islands

By Sanjib Kumar Roy

PORT BLAIR, India (Reuters) - A major quake of magnitude 7.6 struck in

the Indian Ocean off the Andaman Islands early on Tuesday, triggering a tsunami alert for India, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand and Bangladesh.

However, more than two hours after the quake there were no reports of a tsunami from ocean rim countries or any serious casualties from the tremor.

"We all ran out as fast as possible and have not gone back inside, fearing another quake. Everything was shaking, we are all very, very scared," Subhasis Paul, who runs a provision store in Diglipur island in North Andaman, told Reuters by telephone.

"People are calling each other out of their homes and everyone is huddled together outside," Paul said from Diglipur, about 300 km (185 miles) north of Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake, initially reported as a magnitude 7.7, struck at 1:55 a.m. (1955 GMT on Monday). It was shallow, at a depth of 20.6 miles (33 km), and was centred 160 miles (260 km) north of Port Blair.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami watch for the region.

"Earthquakes of this size have the potential to generate a destructive local tsunami and sometimes a destructive regional tsunami along coasts located usually no more than a thousand kilometers (about 600 miles) from the earthquake epicenter," the tsunami center said in its bulletin.