50 killed in high tidal waves caused by earthquake hit parts of India?

Hundreds of people fled in panic as shock waves from a massive earthquake in Indonesia hit parts of southern India on Sunday, unleashing high tidal waves in southern coastal areas, officials said. Unconfirmed television reports said 50 people were killed.

The Indian Meteorological Department said the massive 8.5 magnitude earthquake that hit Southeast Asia was also felt in India.

Press Trust of India news agency said at least 15 people were feared missing in Pattinapakkam and Thirvattriyur districts of Madras, the capital of southern Tamil Nadu sate.

However, ETV and TV Nine, local private television stations in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, said 50 people were killed. They provided no attribution for the report and gave no other details. The reports could not be independently confirmed by officials.

Panic-stricken residents, especially those living in multistory buildings, rushed out of their homes after they were jolted awake in the eastern states of Orissa and West Bengal and the southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Tremors lasting a few seconds were felt around 6.30 a.m. (0100 GMT), PTI said. That was shortly after the quake hit near the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

The rising sea water flooded huts of nearly 2,500 fishermen living in low lying areas of Madras, also known as Chennai, police said.

Strong tidal waves hit a 1,000-kilometer (621-mile) stretch of coastal areas in Andhra Pradesh state, said Mohan Kanda, the top state bureaucrat, in Hyderabad, the state capital.

" I have alerted the administration in nine of Andhra Pradesh's 23 districts," Kanda said.

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