GOA: Thousands of tourists were ordered off Goa's famous beaches minutes after a massive earthquake rocked the seas of Indonesia. The earthquake, which measured 8.2 on the Ritcher scale rocked Indonesia, triggered rumbles in eastern parts of India. Minutes later, another earthquake measuring 3.4 on the Ritcher scale was also recorded of the Arabian sea of India's western coast. Goa 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 or harsh seas resulting from the massive earthquake in the seas of 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. It should be noted that Goa annually attracts more than 2.5 million tourists to its sun-kissed beaches out of which about half a million are foreigners. “All collectors, deputy collectors and 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. A tsunami watch was issued for countries across the Indian Ocean after the Indonesia earthquake, the eight worst in the last 100 years, hit waters of Indonesia on Wednesday, The National Disaster Management Authority in India has however said that there was no likelihood of tsunami being formed anywhere in the Indian Ocean.
