NEW DELHI, July 25 (RIA Novosti, Natalia Shilo) - Indian Minister of Industry, Science and Technology Kapil Sibal said that the earthquake near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Indian Ocean was not cause for alarm.
"We are monitoring the situation. If we notice any change, we will warn the residents of neighboring regions," he said.
The minister said that although the earthquake had occurred several hours ago, the sea level at the epicenter of the earthquake had not changed noticeably.
"If the tsunami was on its way here, it would have reached the shore by now," he added.
A 7.2-magnitude earthquake occurred at 19:42 (Moscow time) at a depth of 10 kilometers, 135 kilometers to the west of Misha Island, which is part of the Nicobar archipelago.
The tremors only lasted three seconds but still caused panic in Port Blair, the capital of the area. There have been no reports of any casualties or destruction.
The December 26, 2004 tsunami, which was caused by an earthquake near the Indonesian island of Sumatra, killed 15,000 people in India. A total of 200,000 people in South Asia fell victim to the natural disaster.
