Three persons died, about 60 injured and many buildings, throughout Bengal, suffered extensive damage in the aftershocks of an earthquake, measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale, that shook Nepal on Saturday. While three persons perished in Siliguri, Malda and Naxalbari, another person was washed away by surging waters at Diamond Harbour.
“As of now I have reports of three persons being killed by the quake,” Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said adding that a disaster management team was being rushed to oversee rescue operations in Darjeeling district in North Bengal. Banerjee herself would visit Siliguri on Sunday she said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called up the Chief Minister and asked her about the situation in the State
“Over 200 buildings have been damaged in Darjeeling. However, it is difficult to reach the villages which fall in the trekking route so the report on exact damage could be told only after the administration reaches these areas,” a Darjeeling district official said. About 40 injuries were reported from Siliguri where a house collapsed. Another 30 children were hurt when parts of a school building caved in at Malda. Reports of injuries also came in from Jalpaiguri, Itahar and other areas.
Cracks developed in at least nine buildings in Kolkata where the quake measured 4.5 in the Richter scale. Cracks were also seen in the newly-built Park Circus flyover. Parts of a nursing home caved in at Coochbehar town bordering Assam. Meanwhile, geologist Sujib Kar, who had predicted the Saturday’s earthquake to happen sometime between mid- March and mid-May, said “though it cannot be said for sure, recent studies are revealing that there could be some kind of links between high differential between the day and night temperatures.”
The residents of the City of Joy came out on the streets after the quake. Such was the initial scare that even politicians and psephologists giving expert views on Saturday’s civic elections in television channels were seen running for their lives out of the studios.