Minor quake close to Lanka

Rafik Jalaldeen

An earthquake measuring 6.0 in magnitude hit the South Indian region yesterday early morning. No damage was caused, neither any tsunami threat was reported.

National Early Warning and Meteorology Center Meteorologist D.A. Jayasinghearachchi said it was reported that a 6.0 magnitude minor quake struck in the Indian Ocean at around 2.00 a.m. yesterday.

A 10km depth earthquake struck the region below the equator (around 2.76 latitude below the equator and 83.6 longitude) in Southern India. A phenomenon of four to six magnitude earthquake was normal in the region, he explained. "It was a minor earthquake. Since it was a minor occurrence, there was no need to issue a tsunami alert. If a tsunami generated it would have already hit by now," he added. He noted that if the magnitude was above seven there would have been a tsunami threat to the region.

The minor earthquake was centered about 1,151km south-southeast coast of Colombo where the Galle and Hambantota districts are located. Besides, the velocity of tsunami wave should have been 800kmh," Jayasinghearachchi told the Daily News.