The quake struck at 1:21:48 a.m. local time Tuesday at a depth of 127.7 km with the epicenter 120 km southeast of Port Blair in India's Andaman Islands, according to USGS.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was a very small possibility of a local tsunami near the centre but no threat of a destructive widespread tsunami.

The Andaman Islands were severely hit by the 2004 Asian tsunami, which was triggered by an earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra.