5.4 Magnitude Quake Strikes Off India's Nicobar Islands

A 5.4-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of India's remote Nicobar Islands on Friday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, while local authorities reported two other quakes.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

The first quake struck at 07:11 pm (13:41 GMT) in the coastal waters, according an official of the Indian Meteorological Department.

"No immediate action is needed. We are just keeping a watch," Deen Mohammad, an officer at the disaster management authority in Port Blair, the capital of Andaman and Nicobar group of islands, told AFP.

Two successive quakes struck the waters of the Nicobar group of islands at 07:41 pm (14:11 GMT) and 07:55 pm (2:25 GMT), the Indian disaster management agency said.

Both measured less than six on the Richter scale, according to the Indian disaster management authority.

The first earthquake hit at a fairly shallow depth of 6.2 miles (10 kilometers), the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands form an archipelago in the eastern Indian Ocean.

The archipelago is made up of a chain of over 500 islands that draw tourists to their pristine beaches.