Tsunami rumour sends jitters
The 15 MT oil refinery, being constructed by the Indian Oil Corporation limited (IOCl) here at a cost of over Rs 32,000 crore, remained unaffected by the earthquake which hit the State on Wednesday night.
Various structures, columns, pipelines, vessels and equipment at the project site withstood the impact of the earthquake, which measured 5.8 at the Richter scale.
The refinery had also withstood the ferocity of the cyclone ‘Phailin’ which hit the eastern coast of India in October last year. The jolt was felt across the port city and in several industrial set-ups. Panic-stricken people ran away from their houses and assembled on the roads anticipating severity of the tremors. Telephone network was paralysed and people were unable to contact their kith and kin. As there were no pre-announcements regarding the quake, people were awe-struck to experience the earth shudder all of a sudden by creating an ominous noise. The locals were also frightened about rumour of tsunami.