A tsunami warning is in effect in the Indian Ocean following
powerful earthquakes off the coast of Indonesia's Aceh province,
prompting evacuations from coastal regions and alarm in areas
struck by a devastating wave in 2004. Wednesday's first quake
was measured at a magnitude of 8.6, according to the US
Geological Survey, which revised down an earlier 8.9 estimate.
US seismologists reduced the area under watch for a possible
tsunami. The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said a
tsunami watch now is in effect for Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka,
Maldives and the British Indian Ocean Territory of Diego Garcia,
removing several other countries from tidal wave risk. A few
thousand people were evacuated to higher ground from parts of
India's Andaman and Nicobar islands. "There could be high waves
of 1.5 metres at Port Blair and 3.9 metres at Campbell Bay,"
said Prabhakar Rao, the official in charge of the disaster
control room at Port Blair, the main town on the islands. Small
waves about half-a-metre high