Rumours of an impending earthquake generated panic among thousands of people across Adilabad, Nizamabad and Karimnagar districts, forcing them to spend sleepless night on Tuesday.
If people were forced to stay indoors all day owing to the intensive household survey, rumours regarding an earthquake kept them outdoors the entire night. The scenes of destruction during the Killari earthquake in Maharashtra a few years back fresh in their minds, people in the mandals in the western side of the district spent their night on roads fearing being buried under the debirs of their homes if an earthquake occurred.
As rumours of the impending quake emanated from neighbouring Nizamabad around midnight, people made frantic calls to their near and dear ones to confirm the talk. Mobile telephony spread the rumour thick and fast and people began pouring out on the streets even though there was a power cut at most places. The rumour-affected mandals in Adilabad district were Nirmal, Lokeswaram, Dilawarpur, Kuntala, Tanur, Bhainsa and Mudhole.
In Nizamabad, the rumours created panic forcing the young and old to rush out of their houses. At some places residents were afraid of getting back to their flats and houses. People were on tenterhooks trying to figure out from where the rumours began. Rumour mongers had a field day when word spread that two huge buildings in Khaleelwadi locality in the town, inhabited by doctors collapsed while another rumour said six persons died in Bodhan. People across the district spent sleepless night.
Rumours kept people on their toes in Karimnagar till the early hours of Wednesday. The talk of impending tremor apparently came from Nizamabad district. Residents in Metpally began calling up their relatives in the district and it led to a panic situation. The rumour left people in Korutla, Jagtial, Karimnagar, Sircilla, Ramagundam, Peddapalli and other mandals fear stricken. People who had come from various parts of the State to participate in the household survey on Tuesday were forced to undergo sleepless night outside their homes.
