President Kumaratunga meeting December 26 tsunami victims

"It's still not clear if a tsunami will hit but we are taking all precautionary measures," President Chandrika Kumaratunga said on state television.

Military spokesman Brigadier Daya Ratnayaka told BBCSinhala.com that the Sri Lankan Army and the Police have provided transport to people along the Southern and Eastern coastal belt to evacuate.

He said that coastline dwellers are requested to move at least two km inland.

"The SL Navy and forces along the coastline are closely monitoring any changes in the sea," he added.

Double blow

The Pacific Monitoring Centre says the it could take up to two hours for the waves to reach Sri Lanka.

Reports are coming in of people evacuating the makeshift homes they had rebuilt along the coast, says BBC 's Dumeetha Luthra in Colombo.

In the southern town of Beruwala, people are reported to have fled to the upper storeys of their homes or farther away from the coast.

The Sri Lankan Meteorological Department says they're not sure the latest quake will trigger tsunamis that will hit Sri Lanka, but said the evacuation warnings are a precautionary measure.

Sirens

"We received a call from Trincomalee. We were told sirens are going, which means an evacuation is taking place," Eric Fernando, Director-General of President Chandrika Kumaratunga's Policy Research and Information Unit told Reuters.

"There are already two ministers at the President's house,"
Fernando added.

Foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar told the BBC that the “country is taking no chances at all”.

“We are asking people to vacate. I was informed by the US Ambassador that if there was to be a tsunami, it was going towards the direction of Mauritus. But we are not taking chances”.

LTTE areas

He said the government announced the warning in Sinhala and Tamil.
"We also conveyed the warning to Tamil Tigers."

Sri Lanka is hopeful that a tsunami will not hit the country this time, added.

S Pulidevan head of the LTTE peace secretariat speaking with bbcsinhala.com from Austria said that warnings have been issued to evacuate from coastal areas under rebel held areas.