|
A light (M4.0-M4.9
range termed as "light") earthquake was felt in the
Gangajalghati-Raniganj-Mejia region as well as in the
adjacent districts of Jharkhand and West Bengal on the morning of 6
February 2008
at 11:39 AM IST. It had a magnitude of Mb=4.3
and caused one death, several injuries and significant damage in
the region for its size.
This earthquake was centred 2.2 kms N of
Gangajalghati (West Bengal), India,
18.7 kms S of Raniganj (West Bengal), India,
21.9 kms WSW of Durgapur (West Bengal), India,
23.2 kms N of Bankura (West Bengal), India,
32 kms SE of Asansol-Burnpur (West Bengal), India,
67.2 kms SW of Siuri (West Bengal), India,
80.9 kms ESE of Dhanbad (Jharkhand), India,
118 kms NE of Jamshedpur (Jharkhand), India,
125 kms NNE of Kharagpur (West Bengal), India,
159 kms NW of BBD Bag, Kolkata (West Bengal), India,
183 kms E of Ranchi (Jharkhand), India.
An elderly woman was
killed at Raniganj and at least 50 people injured in this earthquake, including two persons who were struck
by falling debris, one each in Bishnupur and Gangajalghati in
Bankura district. The
injured included 5 students from the Ramlalpur Ghanaban High
School in Gangajalghati who suffered fractures as they tried to
rush out through a narrow passage. 12 students at the Durvalpur
High School at Mejia and 12 students at
Patrahat Girl's School in Onda fell unconscious as a result
of the tremor.
This earthquake was
strongly felt at Andal, Barjora, Gangajalghati, Mejia and Raniganj
in West Bengal's Bankura district. Several buildings developed
cracks at Andal, Durgapur, Kustore and Panagarh, including eight railway
signalling cabins on the Delhi-Howrah mainline.
Over 2-dozen mud houses are collapsed at Gangajalghati as did a
few abandoned buildings at Searsole near Raniganj. A few mobile
telecom towers collapsed and production at the Mejia Thermal Power Station
stopped.
Tremors were experienced for close to 30-seconds in the districts
of Bankura, Burdwan, Birbhum, Purulia and West Midnapore including
at Asansol, Bankura, Durgapur, Purulia, Raniganj and Siuri. People
went out into the open as doors and windows of buildings rattled.
In West Midnapore district it was felt at
Dahijuri, Jhargram and Silda. The earthquake was also felt in adjacent parts of the state of Jharkhand in the districts of Bokaro, Dhanbad, Paschim Singbhum,
Purbi Singbhum and Ranchi. In particular, it was strongly felt at
Nirsa while at Dhanbad, Govindpur and Jharia the intensity was
sufficient to make people go outdoors out of fear. Light tremors
were felt at Chirkunda, Jamshedpur, Panchet,
Maithon and as far as the state capital, Ranchi.
The main
earthquake was followed by three mild aftershocks at 12:14 PM IST,
12:19 PM IST and 12:21 PM IST.
An
aftershock was felt at Bankura, Barjora, Gangajalghati, Indpur,
Mejia, Raniganj and Onda as well as in other parts of the
districts of Bankura, Burdwan and West Midnapore in the evening at
17:12 PM IST that lasted 3-seconds. If you felt this
earthquake please take the time to fill out a
felt report questionnaire.
|
