Kolkata, February 27 – Kolkata and its surrounding districts were shaken by two consecutive earthquake tremors on Friday afternoon, causing widespread panic as people rushed out of their homes and offices.
The tremors were felt throughout the city and its surrounding districts at 1:22 PM.
Several high-rise buildings in the city swayed for several seconds.
The epicenter of the earthquake was in Khulna, Bangladesh. The magnitude of the tremor was 5.5 on the Richter scale. Many people evacuated their homes and offices in fear and panic. There were reports of several older houses tilting.
However, at the time the report was filed, there were no reports of any major disasters following the tremors. Besides Kolkata, the tremors were mainly felt in the districts of South Bengal.
The districts where the tremors were felt most strongly included South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, East Midnapore, and West Midnapore, among others.
On February 3, at 9:05 PM, a large area of Kolkata was shaken by an earthquake. People immediately took to the streets. Initially, it was reported that the source of the tremor was Myanmar.
Before that, Kolkata and a large part of South Bengal were also shaken last year in November. The epicenter of the earthquake was near Narsingdi in Bangladesh, and its depth was 10 kilometers. The magnitude of the tremor was 5.7 on the Richter scale.
This time, the tremors have been more persistent. Many people have shared videos of the tremors on social media.
Although no official statement on the impact of the earthquake has been issued by the state administration yet, a source from the state Secretariat 'Nabanna' said that different district headquarters are being contacted to get more information on the matter.
However, the state administration had issued an appeal to the people not to panic.