3.9 magnitude earthquake hits Chhattisgarh's Surguja, no damage reported

A tremor of 3.9 magnitude hit Surguja district in north Chhattisgarh on Friday, officials said.

No loss of property or lives due to it has been reported so far, they said. "A 3.9 magnitude earthquake was felt in Ambikapur town (the headquarters of Surguja district) around 10.28 am. Its epicentre was 10 km deep from the surface of the earth and around 12 km away from Ambikapur town in West South West (WSW) direction," H P Chandra, meteorologist at Meteorological Centre Raipur, said. "It was a light category earthquake that did not cause any major destruction," he said, adding that it may, however, result in damage to kutcha (mud) houses located within 20 km radius of the epicentre. According to the official, it was the sixth earthquake in Chhattisgarh in the last 10 months and most of them occurred in the northern parts of the state.

 

The aftershocks were felt in some parts of Surguja and neighbouring Surajpur district, but so far no loss of property or lives has been reported, officials said.

Local officials have been instructed to carefully monitor the situation and report if damage has been caused, they added. Meanwhile, Surajpur district education officer (DEO) has instructed all government and private schools to declare holiday on Friday in view of the safety of students after tremor was felt in the district. Similarly in Ambikapur town, some private schools have declared a holiday on Friday as a precautionary measure.