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Cuttack, April 25: Panic gripped the Silver City as tremors of an earthquake that had its epicenter in Nepal were felt here Saturday morning.
No loss of life or property was reported, but a few old houses in the city developed cracks.
As the tremors shook the city, people rushed out of their houses and offices. Ravish Ranjan, a student of Ravenshaw University, said that he was at the State Bank of India, Cuttack city branch, when he felt a jolt. “I rushed out of the bank. However, there were several people who did not feel anything,” he said.
Rajan was worried as he hails from Bihar and heard reports of loss of life in that state. “I called home immediately. Initially, my brother did not pick up the call. Then I learnt that the epicenter of the quake was in Nepal. This had me worried even more. Luckily, I could get in touch with my parents after an hour, which seemed like eternity,” he said. Sasmita Panigrahi, a housewife and resident of Station Bazaar area said she did not feel the tremor but could see a lot of people rushing out into the open. “I knew it was a quake but did not panic,” she said.
“Thank god the quake was not severe. I shudder to think what would happen if a severe quake hit the city. The congested by-lanes of Station Bazaar and the old houses would be the worst affected,” said Pradosh Kumar Sarangi, a resident of the area.
People in another locality, Thoria Sahi, voiced similar concerns. Cuttack is an old city and this is the biggest cause of concern with regard to quakes. “Several houses in our locality are old and in dilapidated condition. We do not have any option but to pray to the almighty for our safety,” said Manikanta Behera, a resident of Thoria Sahi
Roof plaster falls
Meanwhile, shreds of a ceiling at New PG Hostel on Ravenshaw University premises fell due to the tremor. The tremor was felt at 11.43am when inmates started moving out of their rooms, said sources. Subhasini Lenka, an inmae said, “We could not realise that it was quake initially, but later everybody started fleeing the rooms. We spent a couple of hours on the lawn and were afraid of entering the hostel building.” .