VISAKHAPATNAM: Terrified residents rushed out of their homes after mild tremors shook parts of
Vizag city on Sunday morning.
People felt tremors around 7.14 am on Sunday. The tremors lasted a few seconds at Akkayyapalem, Madhuranagar, Beach Road, Thatichetlapalem, Allipuram, Asillametta,
Seethammadhara
, Gurudwara,Muralinagar, Madhurawada, Kommadi, Simhacha- lam, Gopalapatnam and a few other areas in city.
The low intensity
earthquake of 1.8 magnitude on Richter scale was recorded around 5 km deep in the sea off Vizag coast. The epicentre of the quake is estimated to be around 10 km away from the coast.
Speaking to TOI, Harish N, a resident of Madhurawada in city, said he was reading newspaper in the morning when he felt like a small explosion. “However, I didn’t run out of the house as I have witnessed such an incident in the past, around a decade ago,” he added.
Similarly, residents of big apartment complexes in city said they felt an unusual jerk for a few seconds. Some said they heard a sound like that of an explosion in the morning and ran out of the houses. D Sudhakar, a resident of MVP Colony in Vizag city, said residents in their area came out of buildings and wondered what was happening. “They were in shock for a few minutes as they had never experienced such an incident before. My friends said they have experienced a jolt and felt their buildings shaking for a few seconds. They also felt the walls were shaking. However, there was no damage to property.”
The
National Center for Seismology
said it was an earthquake of magnitude 1.8. The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation tweeted asking
Vizagites
to take precautionary steps after the tremors were reported at 7:13am.
Collector A Mallikharjuna said tremors were reported in many parts on Sunday. “There is no need to worry. However, people should not venture into the beach,” he added. Police and GVMC officials said no human or property loss was reported in the city.