Massive Quake Jolts Acheh, Tremors Felt In West Coast Of Peninsular Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, April 11 (Bernama) -- Several states in the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia experienced tremors following a magnitude 8.7 earthquake which hit Indonesia's Aceh region Wednesday. The Malaysian Meteorological Department warned the public to stay away from the coast in the northern states of Kedah, Perlis, Penang, Perak and Langakawi island as there was a possible tsunami risk. Kuala Lumpur Fire and Rescue Department assistant operations director Azizan Ismail when contacted by Bernama confirmed the matter and said the tremors were felt in Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Perak. The tremors were felt around 4.50pm. Azizan said fire and rescue personnel were despatched to areas where the members of the public sent distress calls. Meanwhile in Thailand, Songkhla and Pattani, the southern provinces of Thailand, felt the tremor as well as six other southern provinces – Krabi, Phuket, Phangga, Satul, Ranong and Trang. "I felt dizzy when our eight-storey hotel shook this afternoon," said Kasma Chemat, a hotel staff in Pattani. He said most of the guests panicked and assembled at the hotel lobby following the tremor. People in Krabi, Phuket, Phangga, Satul, Ranong and Trang have been evacuated to higher ground following evacuation orders issued by the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office Wednesday. In NEW DELHI, India has put some of its coastal region on tsunami alert after the massive earthquake. The coastal regions that are on high alert were Tamil Nadu, Andra Pradesh, Andaman Island and Nicobar Islands, the Press Trust of India (PTI) flashed. Civilians in Andaman Island and Nicobar Island were asked to move to higher grounds. Ships anchored told to move further into the sea, Indian media reported. There were also news quoting port authorities as saying that India's port of Chennai were also shut. -- BERNAMA