Tremor leaves City shaken

Epicentre close to origin of the 2004 killer tsunami

A massive earthquake off Indonesia’s west coast on Wednesday left no trail of destruction like its predecessor in 2004, but triggered panic in the City and other urban centres in India.

No reports of deaths or casualties followed the temblor which measured 8.5 on the Richter scale, and had its epicentre 33 km under water off the Indonesian coast 435 km from Banda Aceh, the epicentre of the devastating 2004 tsunami that killed 2,27,898 people across the Indian Ocean states.

The Índian National Centre for Ocean Information Service issued tsunami alerts both after the first quake and the second, but withdrew the warnings as fears of a giant oceanic wave dissipated. 

But the quake was strong enough to be felt in Bangalore, 3,500 km away from the epicentre. The afternoon tremor in the city lasted a mere 4-5 seconds, but it shook up Bangaloreans. It was felt across the city at Koramangala, RT Nagar, Ulsoor, Sheshadripuram Infantry Road, on M G Road and many other places. People were seen coming out on to the streets from their offices and houses. Many made frantic calls to friends and relatives to check if they felt the tremor. 

Other cities

The tremors were felt elsewhere in the country, too, and caused widespread panic. Thousands of people ran out of their homes, high-rise apartments and offices in panic in the Tamil Nadu capital of Chennai as the first strong tremors were felt around 2-30 pm, eyewitnesses told Deccan Herald. The quake-movements were felt in different parts along coastal Tamil Nadu, right through Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, up to Nagercoil in Kanniyakumari district deep South, besides in some interior districts like Ramanathapuram, Madurai, Karur, Pudukottai and Thanjavur.

As a high alert for a possible tsunami-grade tidal wave hitting was sounded out for the entire coastal Tamil Nadu, including Pondicherry Union Territory, the vast Marina beach in Chennai was cleared of all people.

In Kolkata, people working and staying in high-rise buildings were the first to feel the tremor. Many ran down out of the buildings and on to the roads, causing huge traffic jams. Police evacuated all the multi-storied buildings. APJ House, a known office building located on Park Street, developed major cracks. Apart from that two high rises in central and south Kolkata reportedly leaned after the quake and experts rushed to the spot for inspection. Some old buildings in North Kolkata were reportedly been damaged.Metro services were suspended for nearly two hours.

Epicentre

At Banda Aceh in Indonesia, which is closest to the epicentre of the quake, residents reported the ground shaking violently. The ground shook for nearly five minutes. Terrified people left their dwellings and ran for cover. The tremors were felt far and wide in southern and eastern parts of India, Sri Lanka, Australia, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. All these countries tsunami warnings after the quake and subsequently withdrew them. 

The tsunami warning that followed from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii advised countries along the Indian Ocean from Australia and India to as far off as Africa, that a tsunami could be generated due to the powerful earthquake.