Mild earthquake hits Bankura, none injured

Kolkata: An earthquake measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale hit Bankura district on Sunday morning, triggering panic among the people. However, no casualty or injury was reported following the incident.

The tremors were also felt in the districts of Birbhum, West Burdwan and Purulia. The epicenter of the quake, which struck at around 10:39 am on Sunday, was 10 km below the surface of at latitude 23.3 degrees North and longitude 86.9 degrees East. It may be mentioned here that two medium intensity earthquakes measuring 5.0 and 4.8 on the Richter scale hit Andaman and Nicobar Islands region on the early hours of Saturday.

The low-intensity earthquake had no major impact but triggered alarm among people in the four districts. Many of them left their houses as soon as they felt the tremors in the morning. People in the districts who stayed indoors at the time of the incident saw that the ceiling fans were trembling.

As they realised that it was due to an earth quake, people rushed out of their houses. They remained outside their houses for nearly half an hour to avoid any untoward incident.

The tremors, however, did not last for a long time and normalcy was gradually restored as people went back to their houses. Pratap Mondal, a resident of Birbhum, said: "I was sitting on a chair inside my house when I felt the tremors. The furniture in the room were trembling. Within the next few moments I realised that an earthquake might have hit. We left the house and waited in the open for a couple of minutes."

Many of the panic-stricken people at various blocks of Bankura also rushed to a safer place when they felt the earthquake.