June 28, 2008	Saturday	Jamadi-us-Sani 23, 1429

PORT BLAIR (India), June 27: An undersea earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale struck off India’s Andaman islands in the Indian Ocean on Friday, the US Geological Survey said, causing people to flee their homes.

Officials and witnesses said the quake triggered panic and fears of a repeat of the devastating 2004 tsunami that ravaged the island chain.

Residents ran out of their homes as the powerful jolt rattled buildings, already weakened by a series of earthquakes that have hit the Andamans since the tsunami.

The epicentre of the quake was 115 kilometres southwest from capital Port Blair, the USGS said.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, however, said that “a destructive widespread tsunami threat does not exist based on historical earthquake and tsunami data.”—AFP