Tremors from Indonesia's quake felt in S'pore

SINGAPORE: Tremors from Indonesia's 8.6-magnitude quake were felt in several parts of Singapore on Wednesday.

Two Singapore flights to Phuket, Thailand, have been affected by the closure of the Phuket International Airport, due to tsunami warnings.

SilkAir flight MI 756 departed Singapore at 4.45pm but had to turn back. Another SilkAir flight, MI 758, was supposed to have left at 6.35pm, but had been delayed.

The Phuket International Airport will officially be closed until 8am on Thursday.

Several callers to the MediaCorp hotline said they felt the tremors over at Marine Parade, Beach Road, Bukit Panjang, Bendemeer Road, Farrer Road and Whampoa Road.

They added that the tremors were not as bad as those experienced in previous years.

Devi Singh, a Bukit Panjang resident, said: "It was about 4.50pm. I was on the computer at home with my mum-in-law and husband when suddenly I felt giddy while at the computer. My husband went to lie down, he thought he was also feeling giddy.

"But when I looked up, I saw the light swaying from left to right. And this (lasted) about 60 seconds. There were two other tremors that lasted for about 20 seconds.

"We did not leave the building because we'd felt similar tremors before - the other time (when) there were earthquakes and tsunami. So we stayed put in the building."

A Whampoa resident, Tan Chi Ming, also said she felt the "shakes". She said she rushed to her dad's room and saw the chandelier on his ceiling shaking violently. "We just felt a bit of shaking, then it stopped in about three to five minutes," she added.

Office workers at a nine-storey building along Beach Road were also among those who felt the tremors.

Those on higher floors were apparently more affected and rushed down for safety.

"Most of us on the seventh floor could actually feel the tremors. I felt very giddy initially, sort of like a rocking boat. We were all quite alarmed," said office worker Janet Patt.

"I saw that everything was just shaking... the hanging lights were shaking. So we just evacuated, all of us," said another office worker.

Staff eventually returned to their offices about 20 to 30 minutes later, after receiving the green light from a building maintenance personnel.

"He also mentioned that he did check the surroundings of the building to make sure there were no cracks... so that was his assurance to us that we can actually go back to the office," said office worker Tan Chou Yen.

Tremors were also reported in several states on the west coast of Malaysia.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said an Indian Ocean-wide tsunami watch is in effect.

India issued a tsunami warning for its eastern coast after the Indonesian quake shook major Indian cities, causing panic and sending people fleeing onto the streets.

Sri Lanka also issued a tsunami warning across the island and asked coastal residents to evacuate, while Thailand urged people on the Andaman coast to move to safe areas.