Tsunami scare: Tourists ordered off Goa beaches

Panaji, April 11 (IANS) Fearing a tsunami, the Goa government ordered tourists off the beaches here after a massive earthquake rocked Indonesia.

Speaking to reporters at the secretariat Wednesday, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said that vehicles carrying public address systems would ask tourist to stay off beaches and veer inland for safety in case of a tsunami resulting from the massive earthquake in the seas off Indonesia.

"The tourism department has been warned. They will move vehicles in the coastal areas and tell tourists to stay off the beaches and move inland," Parrikar said.

"All collectors, deputy collectors and mamlatdars (revenue officials) have been mobilised and asked to travel to the coastal areas and ask people to take precautions and not venture into the sea," Parrikar added.

While the India Meteorological Department (IMD) put the Sumatra quake's intensity at 8.5, the US Geological Survey classified it as an 8.6 temblor. The depth of the epicenter, according to the US Geological Survey, was 33 km, considered to be a shallow quake.