Mild tremors felt in many areas of Vizag

Epicentre of the quake is estimated to be around 10 km away from the coast

Mild tremors were felt by the people of many areas of the city for a few seconds on Sunday morning.

The quake, measuring 1.8 magnitude on the Richter scale, was recorded at 7.14 a.m., at a depth of about 5 km in the sea, off the Visakhapatnam coast, a spokesman of the Cyclone Warning Centre (CWC) told The Hindu. The epicentre of the quake is estimated to be around 10 km away from the coast.

Residents of apartment complexes and some independent houses said they felt an unusual jerk for a few seconds while some said they heard an unusual sound.

‘No cause for panic’

As residents took to social media to tell their experiences, District Collector A. Mallikarjuna said there was no cause for panic.

“I was reading the newspaper sitting on the diwan when I felt an unusual jerk for a few seconds. My wife had a similar feeling. A little later, those living on the upper floor also called on the phone saying they felt something unusual. None ran out of our apartment,” said Raghurama Rao, living on the second floor of Alekhya Residency which is beside the National Highway at Marripalem VUDA Colony.

“I was sitting in the verandah reading the newspaper around 7.15 a.m. when I heard a loud sound like that of an explosion. I thought that something must have been fired. Birds were flying all over the sky and our building (two floor individual house) shook for a fraction of a second as though someone was holding its pillars and rocking it,” said G. Hanumantha Rao, an ophthalmologist, living in Sector-V, MVP Colony.

“I was drying clothes in the front yard of our house, when I heard a loud sound and the earth shaking under my feet. People in our area came out of their houses and wondered what it was,” said Pushpa Bhargava, a resident of Seethammadhara.

The residents of Vepagunta and Gopalapatnam also experienced a jolt and felt their buildings shaking for a few seconds. A dilapidated old building, which has partially collapsed due to the rains during the past few days, was further damaged, reportedly due to the tremors at Allipuram.

“I was cooking food in the kitchen, when I heard the sound of an explosion. Thinking that my husband and sons, who were on the terrace, had dropped some object, I shouted at them but later they told me they too heard the sound,” said Appayyamma of Ambedkar Colony beside the National Highway at Marripalem.

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