Earthquake: Sri Lanka ends tsunami alert

COLOMBO - Sri Lanka lifted a tsunami alert early on Tuesday after evacuating thousands of people from the island's battered coastline following a massive earthquake off Indonesia, the National Meteorological Centre said.

However thousands of people still lined the island's southern coastal road, trying to hail three-wheeler taxis or thumb lifts, many pushing carts piled high with mattresses, pillows and other possessions hurriedly packed into cardboard boxes.

From the eastern town of Trincomalee to the capital Colombo, police earlier used loudhailers to advise residents to move several hundred metres inland.

"The Sri Lankan navy and early warning centre say there is no information to suggest another tsunami," National Meterological Centre Director Jaya Thilaka told Reuters.

"It has already been nearly five hours since the earthquake. A tsunami would reach here within 2-3 hours," he added.

Around 40,000 people were killed along Sri Lanka's south, east and northern coasts by December's tsunami and more than 500,000 people are still displaced, living in tents or with relatives and friends.

News of an 8.7 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Sumatra sparked fears of a repeat disaster and the government erred on the side of caution.

Trincomalee hospital was evacuated late on Monday and residents of coastal Ampara district, which bore the brunt of December's tsunami, fled inland.

"Once I heard the police announcement, the natural reaction was to get all my family members together and leave as soon as possible," said labourer Sarath Nishantha, standing by the roadside in the town of Mount Lavinia near Colombo carrying his 18-month old son.

"I didn't even wait to think whether it is true or not," he added. Nishantha, his wife and their three children left everything behind and were trying to find transport. A nearby hotel had asked guests to move to upper floors.

Monday's scare came just two days after the Indian Ocean island nation held ceremonies along the southern coast to mark the three-month anniversary of the December 26 tsunami.

Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar told the BBC that President Chandrika Kumaratunga's government had warned Tamil Tiger rebels, who control swathes of the north and east, about the new earthquake.

Senior Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) envoys are in Europe lobbying for a bigger share of aid pledged after December's tsunami, which flattened towns and villages all along the island's palm-fringed shores.

The remote Maldives island chain, 800km off the toe of India -- which were swamped by the tsunami but escaped the kind of damage and death tolls seen in Indonesia and Sri Lanka -- advised residents to stay alert and glued to the television and radio.

"We've issued cautionary notices, asking people to get away from coastal areas and get to sturdy and tall buildings in case of a tsunami developing," chief government spokesman Ahmed Shaheed said.

- REUTERS