NEW DELHI - India Wednesday issued a tsunami alert for Andaman and Nicobar Islands off the Bay of Bengal and in southern states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, after strong tremors were felt across the Indian eastern coast following a 8.9 magnitude quake in Indonesia.

Mild tremor was also felt in New Delhi, the financial hub of Mumbai, while eastern city of Kolkata and the southern city of Chennai saw panic following the earthquake in Indonesia.

"We have issued a tsunami warning for Nicobar islands," Shailesh Nayak, Secretary Ministry of Earth Sciences, told the media in the national capital.

The Indian Tsunami Early Warning Center said that waves measuring up to six meters are likely to hit parts of its eastern coast, which was heavily hit by the 2004 tsunami, in which many people were killed in the wake of a devastating tsunami in the Indonesian province of Banda Aceh.

In Wednesday's tremor, many people fled their houses in Kolkata, Chennai, Guwahati and Bangalore, as local TV footage showed panicky people stayed on the streets trying to make sense of the tremors.

"The tremors lasted for a few seconds. In the city of Bhubaneshwar, people were seen running out of their homes and offices. No damage has been reported so far," an official said.

The tremors were felt soon after an earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale hit Indonesia at around 15:38 p.m. local time.

A giant 9.1-magnitude quake hit the country on December 26, 2004, triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed over 230,000 people in 13 Indian Ocean countries, including Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India.