Fresh tremors felt in West Bengal

KOLKATA: Fresh tremors were today felt in several parts of West Bengal at around 12.40 PM causing panic among the people who ran out of their homes and assembled on the streets.

"The tremor had its epicentre further east of the region in Nepal that witnessed an earthquake yesterday. The magnitude of the earthquake on the Richter Scale is 6.9 and the tremors were felt here in the city and the surrounding areas. We are still waiting for more details," a senior official of Kolkata Meteorological department told PTI.

The tremor was felt in different parts of the city especially in Behala, Garia, Kidderpore, Lake Town, Salt Lake, Dalhousie and Park street areas.

Metro services in the city were temporarily stopped following the tremor, a senior official of Kolkata Metro said.

"Mainly because of safety reasons, we have stopped the services. We are running a check whether there is any damage of the tracks or elsewhere. Once that's complete we will resume the services," he said.

A police official said that they had not received report of any casualty in the city.

Tremors were also experienced in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Bankura and East Midnapur districts of the state, reports reaching here said.

In West Bengal, three persons were killed and 69, including 43 school children, were injured after a 7.9-magnitude earthquake rocked Nepal and several parts of the country yesterday.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is scheduled to visit North Bengal this afternoon which was most affected in yesterday's quake.