People rushed out of offices and residences after apparently feeling very low intensity tremors
People come out of their offices in the city on sensing mild tremor (Photo: DC)
Chennai: The massive 7.9 Richter earthquake that struck the Himalayan country of Nepal on Saturday, had far reaching impact as there were reports of low intensity tremors being felt in some areas of Chennai. The earthquake, which occurred around noon, had its epicentre at Lamjung, around 80 km northwest of the capital city ofKathmandu.Social media was abuzz with posts on tremors being felt in Chennai. There were several Facebook posts as well as tweets that mentioned about the earth-shaking quake.
There were reports of people rushing out of offices and residences after apparently feeling very low intensity tremors. Employees of private firms at Nandanam, including at Temple Tower, were reported to have rushed down after sensing the tremor. “Initially, we felt a sensation and then saw slight movement of chairs. We decided to exit the building,” Thiruvenkatam, an employee, said. When contacted, an IMD official of seismology monitoring division, said, "The quake which initially measured 7.5 on the Richter scale was subsequently scaled up to 7.9. With its being very strong, tremors were bound to have been felt across the country.”
The massive quake had a significant impact in several cities in Bihar, West Bengal and UP, with strong tremors being felt across vast swathes of north India, including the national capital region. It was also felt in neighboring countries China, Bhutan and as far as Pakistan.
140 devotees from Tamil Nadu safe
With Saturday’s earthquake in Nepal creating havoc, a group of about 200 pilgrims, led by Sri Ranga Narayana Jeeyar Swamigal of Srirangam Jeeyar mutt, returned to India safely. According to travel agents in Chennai, a group of 200 devotees from various parts of Tamil Nadu left Chennai for Nepal a couple of days ago. The first team of 140 left Kathmandu on Saturday afternoon and reached New Delhi in the evening. They are expected to land in Chennai Saturday night.
“The remaining people are safe in Kathmandu and are likely to come back home soon,” the travel agents said.Senior officials in the revenue and public department say that there was no information about death or injury to tourists and pilgrims from Tamil Nadu. “We are coordinating with the Union government for the safe return of all people from Tamil Nadu,” the sources said.Several people who tried to contact their near and dear ones in Nepal complained that the telephone lines were jammed, which worried them more as they were unaware of their condition.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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