6.8-quake strikes Myanmar; tremors felt in northeast, West Bengal, Bihar

Tremors were felt across West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and parts of Northeast India on Wednesday as an earthquake measuring 6.7 on the open-ended Richter scale hit Myanmar. The powerful earthquake triggered panic among people when it was felt at around 4.04 pm. Many buildings, particularly highrises, shook violently and panic-stricken people rushed out in a hurry. Office workers rushed into the open. In Kolkata, the Metro Rail suspended services for half an hour. There was, however, no report of any casualties till the time of going to press.

The epicentre of the earthquake was 58 km deep below the earth’s surface at Chauk, a small town in north-central Myanmar, the National Centre for Seismology said. The US Geological Survey put the intensity of the earthquake at 6.8 on the Richter scale.

Tremors were also felt in parts of northern India, including Gurgaon, Manesar and Bhondsi in Haryana.

In Kolkata, the West Bengal secretariat building Nabanna was evacuated. Tremors were also felt in the districts of Howrah, Hooghly, East Midnapore, West Midnapore, Burdwan, Birbhum, South 24-Parganas, North 24-Parganas, Nadia, Murshidabad and Malda. This is the second time in 2016 that Kolkata has felt tremors. People said it was scary as the tremors were quite strong. “The entire building started shaking and we ran out in fear,” a private sector employee said. The Metro Railway service was suspended from 4.08 pm to 4.40 pm.

The state secretariat was evacuated soon after the quake and work was called off for the rest of the day. “We fear there will be aftershocks once there is an earthquake,” an office worker said.

Similar scenes were seen in Patna, Guwahati and Agartala where people were seen rushing out of homes and offices into the streets immediately after the earthquake. People in many Bihar towns, including Darbhanga, Madhubani, Muzaffarpur and Sitamarhi, which are prone to quakes, rushed towards open spaces as the earth shook violently.

In Orissa, tremors were felt in Cuttack, Paradip, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Balasore and Keonjhar. In Assam, the quake on Wednesday followed two other tremors that had shaken the state on Tuesday. Earthquakes measuring 3.1 and 5.5 on the Richter scale had jolted Assam at 5.30 am and 7.41 am on Tuesday. There was, however, no reports of any damage to property.