RAIPUR: A mild earthquake was experienced in Chhattisgarh’s Bhatgaon, Surajpur, Ambikapur, Bishrampur and Pratappur areas on Friday morning with epicenter at Bhatgaon nagar panchayat, 40 km from Ambikapur.
The magnitude of the earthquake was measured at 3.9 and it was felt at 10.28.32 am on Friday, said the local meteorological department.
Deepak Soni, 45, a resident of Bhatgaon, told TOI that he was on the roof of his two-storey building when he felt a vibration and he immediately rushed downstairs and moved out of the house with his family. It lasted for around 10-15 seconds, he said. Around 10,000 people live in Bhatgaon and all of them were seen coming out of their houses on the roads.
Soni said that the earthquake was felt within a 40 kilometres radius in Surajpur, Ambikapur, Bishrampur and Pratappur. An earthquake was felt in Bhatgaon one month ago but the intensity of Friday's earthquake was much more than the previous one, he said.
Advocate Dinesh Kumar Soni, a resident of Banaras Road in Ambikapur, said that he was preparing to leave for office when he felt the earthquake. Households kept on the almirah roof fell down in the vibration created by the earthquake. "Even as the met department measured the magnitude at 3.9, I felt the intensity of the earthquake much higher than the official figure," he said.
Sharing an image of his house with cracked walls, Bhatgaon nagar panchayat vice president Virendra Gupta said that the intensity of the earthquake was enough to create cracks on the walls of his house. He also said that cracks were developed in the walls of the Dumaria government school building.
