New Tsunami Warning Issued - Volcano Erupts in India !

[Ivanova]

Panic as new tsunami warning issued

Colombo

December 30, 2004


***


India issued a tsunami warning on Thursday for all areas hit by Sunday's giant waves, which killed more than 87,000 people from Asia to Africa -- over 24,000 of them in Sri Lanka alone.

But the US Geological Survey said it had seen no sign of an aftershock big enough to spark a fresh tsunami.

"People were running here and there. We need to know what is really happening," said Jaufer.

In India too, thousands of people scrambled to higher ground after an official tsunami alert was issued.

India's last active volcano, in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, has erupted in the aftermath of the huge earthquake that set off tsunamis killing thousands of people, official sources say.

People have been evacuated from Barren Island since the eruption began Tuesday night and there were no reports of injury.

Lava was flowing out of the rim of the crater which towers above the Indian Ocean some 500 metres away, the sources said.

Tourists used to visit by boat and the island has a police station.

The volcano, known as Barren 1, is located some 135 kilometres north-east of the capital Port Blair, and last erupted in 1996.

It runs about 150 fathoms deep under the sea and usually gives off smoke.

M M Mukherjee of the Geological Survey of India said the volcano presented little real danger.

"The risk is minimised because it is surrounded by the sea so if at all there is a lava flow it will roll off into the sea," he said.

The Andamans has reported a series of major aftershocks daily since Sunday's massive undersea quake off Sumatra.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are located near a zone of intense tectonic activity.

A second volcano, called Narcondam and considered dormant, lies close to Barren Island, which also erupted in 1991 after more than a century of inactivity.


http://www.theage.com.au/news/Asia-tsun ... click=true

[Matt-hurricanewatcher]

[TexasStooge]

NOT GOOD!!