Strong tremors of earthquake, centred near Gangtok, were felt across Bihar on Sunday evening and scores of houses collapsed as a result in various districts. Mobile phone services and electricity supply were disrupted across Bihar and Jharkhand immediately after the tremors hit.
In capital Patna, the tremors were felt for about three seconds at about 6.20 pm and people rushed out of their houses on to the streets in panic. The accompanying power disconnection heightened the panic. No damages to any buildings were reported in Patna. The weather department issued an alert for the state. The NDRF teams were asked to keep ready after reports of collapsing houses came in.
An eight-year-old girl died due to collapse of her house at Harnaut in Nalanda district while a man died in Darbhanga in the stampede following the tremors. Three children died due to the collapse of a house at Kothi village in Gaya district, but it was said the rains could be the cause instead of the tremors. Two prisoners at the Darbganga district jail were badly injured in the stampede during the tremors. Two houses collapsed due to the tremors at Laliahi in Katihar district, close to the Nepal border. Several houses were damaged in Saharsa, Lakhiserai, Nalanda, Jamui, Munger, Muzaffa-rpur, Begusarai and Gaya districts.The NTPC power station at Kahalgaon in Bhagalpur district, which supplies power to north Bihar, was shut down immediately after the tremors were felt.