Two die in Indian islands quake

By Subir Bhaumik BBC correspondent in Calcutta

A powerful earthquake has hit India's eastern Andaman island chain, killing two people and causing serious damage in some areas.

The quake, measuring six on the Richter scale, struck the north Andamans at 0400 local time on Saturday (2230 GMT on Friday).

Officials at the Calcutta weather office said the epicentre of the earthquake was 1,075 km south-east of Calcutta in the Andaman Sea.

Parts of the islands are popular with tourists

After the initial quake, officials say at least 12 aftershocks were felt in the archipelago until midday local time (0730 GMT).

Officials in Port Blair, the administrative capital of the Andamans, said the earthquake led to tsunamis at Ross and Smith Islands in the northern Andamans

There was no loss of life as these particular islands are completely uninhabited.

Deaths

However, two people died in the middle Andamans, when a house collapsed at Barkhand.

A bridge also collapsed at Kalipur.

An official said some damage was also caused to the Ariel Bay jetty in the same area, which developed some cracks.

Defence and intelligence officials say some of their facilities also suffered a lot of damage - but they were not willing to specify its extent.

Environmentalists say the ecology of the some of the islands in the northern Andamans, like Ross and Smith, may have suffered a lot.

More details are awaited.

Residents in Port Blair said they ran out of their houses as the earthquake shook the area for a minute or so.

This is the first major earthquake reported in the Andamans - a sparsely-populated island area with a dwindling aboriginal population, that now houses the Far Eastern command of the Indian navy.

Parts of the island chain are also popular with foreign tourists.