Quakes and aftershocks over the past two days have shaken up people but experts claimed the intensity of the tremors would reduce in some hours or a couple of days.

The effect of the Himalayan quake was felt worst in the northeastern districts of the state with at least 10 casualties reported from East Champaran till Sunday. People in the southwestern parts of the state, including Aurangabad, Gaya and Jehanabad among others, felt the tremors too but being in the seismic zone III (moderate), they escaped the worst.

Neither any major damage nor casualties was reported from the district but the people are panicky. One youth fractured his leg rushing out of his house during Sunday's quake. Geologists and other experts, however, sought to calm people's nerves. A couple of experts in Gaya said the intensity of the aftershocks would reduce in some hours and might not be felt on the earth's surface where there is habitation. If felt, the intensity would be very low.

Magadh University geography teacher Veerendra Kumar said: "Studies so far indicate that chances are very low for Gaya to be the epicentre of an earthquake. In fact, Gaya is the junction of the plateau region in Jharkhand and the Gangetic plains and it also falls in the seismic zone III. People need to be alert but there's no need to panic."

The tectonic plates in the plains are more deep than in the hills, so in case of a shift the effects are not felt.

Magadh University pro-vice-chancellor Kriteshwar Prasad also said people should not panic about tremors, particularly in the Magadh region comprising Gaya, Jehanabad, Aurangabad, Nawada and Arwal.

He added: "The tremors and aftershocks would settle down in the next couple of days. It is difficult to say whether Gaya could be the epicentre of an earthquake but chances are very low. There is a simple method to feel the intensity of a tremor. People should keep a transparent bottle in their house with half of the bottle filled with water. The tremor's intensity can be gauged by the vibration."

Ranjit Kumar Verma, the pro-vice-chancellor of Patna University, although said a fault can develop in the inner surface rock structure of Gaya and its adjoining areas because of unabated mining activities.

"The fault might develop from uncontrolled mining in the inner rock structure in the hills between Manpur and the Wazirganj blocks. A long range of hills spread across 12km has been destroyed by mining, leading to imbalance in the surface load on the inner rock structure. A similar fault in the inner surface rock structure has been detected in Munger. If a fault in the inner rock structure develops in Gaya and its adjoining areas, it might be dangerous. The hills need to be conserved and developed into a tourist zone."