Tsunami alert on S. Africa's Indian Ocean coastline

South Africa is on alert for a possible tsunami along its Indian Ocean coastline following a strong earthquake in the Indian Ocean on Wednesday. The National Ports Authority had alerted the country's National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) to the possibility of a tsunami along northern reaches of the coastline from 1:00 a.m. (2300 GMT) on Thursday, said NSRI spokesman Craig Lambinon. But he said the alert was intended "as simply a heads-up" and that there was "no cause for any concern," the SAPA news agency reported. "The alert is precautionary as there is no concrete evidence of a full-blown tsunami," he said. He said any tsunami resulting from the Indonesian quake was not expected to be as severe as that of December 2004. The Boxing Day wave claimed at least 217,000 lives, in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Somalia, Myanmar, the Maldives, Malaysia, Tanzania, Bangladesh, the Seychelles and Kenya. Afterwards, mini-tsunami waves up to two meters high reportedly hit South Africa's east and south coasts.