Massive earthquake jolts Myanmar, tremors felt in Delhi, Kolkata, Patna

New Delhi: A major earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale on Wednesday hit areas around the Indo-Myanmar border and its tremors were felt in the northeast, West Bengal, Bihar and other parts of the country.

According to National Centre of Seismology (NCS), the earthquake occurred at 7:25 PM at the depth of 134 km.

There were no immediate reports of damage to property and life.

In West Bengal, the impact was more in the northern districts. Metro Railway service was stopped for five minutes immediately after the quake, Metro spokesperson Indrani Banerjee said.

People in Kolkata ran out of their residences in wake of tremors felt in the city. TMC leader Derek O’Brien tweeted saying that he felt the tremors and that the building he was in was immediately evacuated.

"I was inside, working and then suddenly I felt the ground shaking," local resident Chiranjeet Ghosh told television news channels.

"People started yelling 'something is happening, let's get out!' and we immediately rushed out. I came out and saw that everyone else around here had already evacuated their homes and poured onto the streets," said another resident.

Residents in Kolkata also reported seeing cracks appearing in buildings following the quake, while the city's metro was suspended for a few minutes.

Tremors were felt in Patna, Begusarai, Vaishali, Kishangaj and other districts of Bihar, Patna MET director A K Sen said.

In neighbouring Jharkhand, there were jolts in Ranchi, Dumka, Godda, Deoghar, Sahibganj and Jamshedpur, geologist Nitish Priyadarshi said.

Chinese official news agency Xinhua said strong tremors were felt in Tibet.

"Xinhua reporters said strong tremors, lasting for about a minute, were felt in Lhasa, the regional capital," the agency said.

"Some residents were seen rushing out of their houses for safety."