Eight killed as quake strikes Bihar

At least eight people, including three children, were killed and nearly two dozen people were injured when a massive earthquake caused walls to collapse in parts of Bihar on Tuesday, officials said.

The 7.3 magnitude earthquake's epicentre was in Kodari, Nepal and its effect was felt across north India, including Bihar. A labourer was killed when an under-construction wall collapsed in Danapur near Patna and a child was killed in Siwan district when a wall collapsed. Another child was seriously injured, officials of state disaster management department said.

Two children were killed in Manigachi in Darbhanga district in a wall collapse and a woman was killed in Dumra of Sitamarhi district when she came under the debris of a wall that fell. One person died in Hajipur in Vaishali district, Nawada and Saran districts due to the quake. Over half a dozen girl students of a government middle school at Bihya in Bhojpur district were injured when they were trying to rush out of class room.

"All of them were admitted at a primary health centre for treatment," a district official said. In Forbesganj in Araria district, bordering Nepal, at least 12 people were injured in a stampede during the quake. People in Patna, Darbhanga, Purnea, Kishanganj, Madhubani, Jehanabad and Aurangabad felt the tremors for over a minute. 

"People across Bihar felt the tremors," Patna Met Office director A.K. Sen said. According to state disaster management department officials here, there were reports of cracks in several houses in Jehanabad, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Patna, Gaya, and Raxaul in East Champaran district. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has called a meeting of the state disaster management department and directed officials concerned to assess the damage caused by the quake.

Hundreds of thousands of people came out of their houses across the state as soon as they felt temblor. In Patna, people rushed out of their houses and took shelter in open spaces.