Strong quake hits India's Andamans archipelago

PORT BLAIR, India (AFP) - A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck India's Andaman islands on Saturday, prompting residents fearful of a repeat of the deadly 2004 tsunami to flee their homes, geologists and witnesses said.

The earthquake occurred at 1:20 am (1950 GMT Friday), some 115 kilometres (71 miles) south-southwest of the local capital Port Blair, according to the US Geological Survey.

There were no reports of damage or casualties following the quake, which occurred at a depth of 45 kilometres.

But residents of the archipelago wrecked by the December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami raced from their homes and sought higher ground.

"The memories of 2004 are still vivid on their minds so when the quake struck, the level of panic was much greater," said C. Palaniswamy, council chief of tsunami-shattered Hut Bay island.

Official both in the Andamans and at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said Saturday's quake had not sparked a tsunami alert.

"Nevertheless, people were in great panic," said Poritosh Haldar, a college teacher in Port Blair.

The Andaman and Nicobar chain of more than 500 islands, 58 of them inhabited, was hit hard by the earthquake-triggered tsunami two years ago.

Initially, officials here said 3,000 people had been killed in the disaster and 5,500 others left missing, but authorities recently drastically revised the death toll down to 454, with 3,073 others listed as missing.

Floods in southeast Asia force thousands to flee

KOTA TINGGI, Malaysia, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Malaysia's worst floods in 37 years have displaced nearly 100,000 people amid food shortages, looting and criticism on Saturday of the government's handling of the crisis.

Heavy rain in neighbouring Indonesia -- exacerbated by deforestation -- also killed at least six people and drove tens of thousands from their homes.

Malaysian weathermen warned the floods, which hit the southern states, could spread to the central and northeastern parts of the country if the unusually heavy monsoon rains persisted.

The rains over the Malaysian states of Johor, Negeri Sembilan, Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang are expected to continue until Sunday, the weather bureau said in a report.

Six people, all in the worst-hit state of Johor, have now died in the floods, which the government described as the worst since 1969.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, enroute to Australia for his holiday after an official visit to Venezuela, made a surprise detour to Johor on Saturday to visit flood victims.

"We want to ensure that everyone gets to return home safely," the national Bernama news agency quoted him as saying after visiting a shelter in Johor.

The floods, which followed this week's heaviest rainfall in a century, submerged buildings and cut off roads in Kota Tinggi and several other towns in Johor, which borders Singapore.

Newspapers reported looting in the towns of Kota Tinggi and Segamat. There were also cases of rescuers demanding money from flood victims before rescuing them, the Star newspaper said.

DESPERATE VICTIMS

"I was desperate and did not know what to do," the Star quoted Abdul Rashid Maidin, one of several people whom it said paid the money, as saying.

The going rate was between 50 and 100 ringgit ($14 and $28), it said.

Flood victims also complained of lack of food, clothing, blankets and running water at many of the relief shelters.

Opposition leaders criticised the government's handling of the crisis, saying relief operations were in complete disarray.

"A full and independent inquiry into the monster floods in southern peninsula Malaysia and the horror stories of inhumanity, greed and incompetence is clearly warranted," parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang said.

In Indonesia, authorities said at least five people were killed and 70,000 others driven from their homes by surging flash floods triggered by two days of incessant rain in Aceh's eastern coastal areas.

Local officials said the region's rice paddies were damaged and cattle killed by the rising waters.

In North Sumatra province, one person died and twelve were missing, possibly dead, after floodwaters up to two metres high racing through 12 districts.

"One died and 12 people are missing, but we can not confirm yet whether the missing have died or not," Syam Sumarno, spokesman of Langkat regency in North Sumatra, said by telephone.

Sumarno blamed heavy rains that began on Friday, as well as the heavy deforestation of the region for the flood's destruction. "About 17,000 people are being evacuated," he said.