A powerful earthquake of 7.7 magnitude hit Nicobar Islands shortly after midnight at about 0057 hours, followed by after shocks. It was epicentred 157 KMs west of Great Nicobar near Misha island. Its impact has been felt in many coastal areas including Chennai, Vizag, Bhubaneshwar and Kolkata. The tsunami alert issue to India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia early this morning has been withdrawn later. Nicobar islands experienced after shocks for many hours and another quake of 5.3 magnitude on the Richer scale shook these islands at about 4.15 hours this morning. Our correspondent reports that there were no reports of casualties or damage to properties from any part of these islands.