A moderate earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale jolted Nicobar Islands early on Thursday.

The quake hit the islands at 1.12 a.m., Xinhua quoted the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as saying.

The quake's epicentre, with a depth of 1.00 km, was initially determined to be at 7.8365 degrees north latitude and 94.0158 degrees east longitude.

Situated in the south-east of the Bay of Bengal, the Nicobar Islands comprises 22 large and small islands, of which only 12 have inhabitants.