No tsunami was observed near the epicentre of the massive earthquake off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale, the Pacific Tsunami [Images] Warning Centre said.

The earthquake, whose intensity was upgraded by the US Geological Survey to 8.7, raised fear of another tsunami and caused panic along the entire southeastern coastal areas of India and Andaman and Nicobar islands.

A general alert has been sounded in Tamil Nadu, Kerala [Images] and Andaman and Nicobar, one of the worst hit by the tsunami on December 26.

The Meteorological and Geophysics agency in Indonesia also said there is no sign of any tsunami in the region near the epicentre of the country.

Since there has been no sign of a tsunami even after over three hours of the quake, there is unlikely to be one, it said.