The emergency control room in India's Home Ministry was activated Monday night following a great earthquake hit the northern Sumatra island of Indonesia.

Indian Prime Minister's Office spokesman Sanjaya Baru said, "We have information about a major earthquake hitting the Sumatra region and the Home Ministry is monitoring the situation."

The Indian Meteorological department said Monday night that an earthquake of great intensity with 8.2 magnitude hit the northern Sumatra region in Indonesia and that a fresh tsunami cannot be ruled out.

An earthquake in the same area Dec. 26 last year had triggered tsunamis that hit countries around the Indian Ocean, killing hundreds of thousands of people in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and other countries.