PTI

Chennai, Jul 18: Curiosity rather than fear was writ large on the faces of the people who stood on the sands of Marina, the second largest beach in the world, 'awaiting' a 'glimpse' of the devastating tsunami which struck the same stretch on December 26, 2004.
  
"We are curious!" This was the most common refrain of several people who thronged the Marina Beach on Monday when asked why they were there in spite of a tsunami scare in the wake of the strong undersea earthquake in Indonesia.

Once, it succeeded in taking a few lives, but after that the tsunami has been a constant source of 'entertainment' for the people. Even a high tide is considered a tsunami wave.

Warning messages from the police went largely unheeded with people, who initially restrained themselves to the safety of the Beach Road, returning to the sands of the beach in a few minutes time with the sea showing no signs of any trouble.

However, uniformed men, in huge numbers were patrolling the entire stretch of the beach, and restraining people from staying for long in areas closest to the beach, like the Mahatma Gandhi statue, Light House and Kannagi statue.

Foreshore Estate, where the fishing community of the Marina lives and was badly hit by the tsunami in 2004, was all activity as usual, with children playing outside their homes.