A powerful 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck several parts of Bihar, Odisha, Assam, West Bengal and Tripura on Wednesday. There were, however, no immediate reports of human casualties or damage to property.
The epicentre was 58 km deep below the earth’s surface at Chauk, a small town in north-central Myanmar, according to the National Centre for Seismology, a unit of Ministry of Earth Sciences. The U.S. Geological Survey put the intensity of the quake at 6.8 on the Richter scale.
Panic on the streets Tremors were felt in several parts of north India, including Gurgaon, Manesar and Bhondsi in Haryana, authorities said.
People in Kolkata, Patna and Guwahati were seen rushing out of their homes and offices into the streets in panic immediately after the quake struck at 4:04 p.m.
Buildings develop cracks The Director of Bihar’s Met office A.K. Sen said the quake caused some old buildings to develop cracks.
People in many Bihar towns prone to quakes, including Darbhanga, Madhubani, Muzaffarpur and Sitamarhi, rushed to open spaces as the ground shook violently.
In Odisha, tremors were felt in places like Cuttack, Paradip, Jagatsinghpur, Bhadrak, Balasore and Keonjhar, officials said.
In Assam, the quake on Wednesday followed two tremors measuring 3.1 and 5.5 on Tuesday morning.
Gurgaon’s District Public Relations Officer R.S. Sangwan said tremors were felt in the satellite township.
