Earthquake hits West Bengal; tremors felt in Jharkhand

Kolkata, May 26: An earthquake with a magnitude of 4.8 hit Asansol in West Bengal around 10.50 AM on Sunday. The tremors were felt in the neighbouring state of Jharkhand as well.

There was no report of any casualty or damage to property so far, an official said. The epicentre of the tremor was 10 km below the surface of Earth at latitude 23.3 degrees north and longitude 86.9 degrees east.

Earlier in the day, an earthquake struck the Andaman & Nicobar islands in the early hours of Sunday. The tremors, measuring 4.5 magnitude on the richter scale, hit the Nicobar islands at around 7:49 am in the morning.

The quake was relatively mild and is unlikely to have caused any damage to properties. No civilian casualties have either been reported.

"An earthquake with a magnitude of 4.5 on the Richter Scale hit Nicobar Islands today at 7:49 AM," said the statement issued by the India Meteorological Department. The epicentre of the earthquake was yet to be confirmed by the time this report was published.

The islands have been experiencing frequent earthquakes over the past few days.

The first earthquake on Saturday, with a magnitude of 5.0 struck the region at around 2.52 am while the second quake, with a magnitude of 4.8 took place at 5 am.