Mozambique withdraws tsunami warning

MAPUTO, Sep 13 (Reuters) Mozambique withdrew a tsunami alert today, saying fears of dangerously high sea levels had not materialised, but citizens should nevertheless stay away from their coastal homes for now.

''We have deactivated the alert because the last information we had was that the waves were less than a metre high,'' said Paulo Zucula, director of Mozambique's Institute for Disaster Management, which had issued a tsunami warning late on Wednesday after an earthquake shook Indonesia.

''We were expecting the tsunami to hit (the northern) Cabo Delgado province at 0165 hrs IST and that did not happen,'' said Paulo Zucula, director of Mozambique's Institute for Disaster Management.

''Although it doesn't pose any more danger we are encouraging the people not to go back home tonight,'' Zucula said.

Millions of Mozambique's some 18 million people live along its Indian Ocean coastline.

Reuters SZ VP0620