PORT BLAIR, India (CNN) -- A tsunami warning from Indian authorities appeared to be a false alarm, as thousands of panicked residents returned to coastal areas after officials said the warning was meant as advice to be careful, not orders to evacuate.
Thursday's warning triggered panic in hard-hit Tamil Nadu state on India's southeastern coast and the country's remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where thousands died in Sunday's tsunamis.
Officials said police decided to take no chances when they ordered people out of the coastal areas. Among those ordered to move several kilometers inland were members of a CNN crew in Nagappattinam in Tamil Nadu.
India's government has been criticized for not having done enough to evacuate coastal areas before Sunday's tsunamis hit.
The 9.0-magnitude earthquake that triggered the tsunamis sent deadly waves to Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka before they struck India's coast. More than 10,000 Indians were killed.
On Thursday, Indian authorities earlier issued a warning on its state media to head for higher ground despite the apparent absence of any major seismological activity.
The alert said there was evidence from foreign experts that a powerful earthquake could occur Thursday afternoon near Australia, triggering another tsunami in the Indian Ocean, the state-run Press Trust of India reported.
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