People inspect the damaged wall of an apartment in Guwahati on Monday. Eastern Projections

Sept. 21: At least 10 people, including four from Assam, were killed in a Bhutan earthquake whose tremors were felt in Calcutta and most other parts of Bengal this afternoon.

No casualties were reported in Bengal.

“A quake of 6.2 on the Richter scale is of a moderate magnitude by meteorological standards. Thankfully, no major damage has been reported (in Bengal),” said a senior official of the Regional Meteorological Centre at Alipore, Calcutta.

The first tremor, lasting 40 seconds, was felt at 2.24pm. The second, for seven seconds, was felt at 2.42pm.

The epicentre was in Bhutan’s Munggar, 180km east of Thimphu and 125km northwest of Guwahati, along the India-Bhutan border.

In north Bengal’s Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, and Sikkim, which border Bhutan, residents rushed out of homes, blew conches and ululated till the tremors died down. Minakshi Das, a resident of Krishnapally in Maldah, said she felt the tremors for almost 30 seconds. “I was busy with household chores when I felt the tremors. I ran out with my children. I started blowing the conch shell, as did my neighbours.”

In Calcutta, TCS employee Avanish Trivedi said: “I was sitting in my third-floor office. I thought I was feeling dizzy but then I saw the water in the bottle in front of me shake. It felt like the quake went on for about 30 seconds.”

The tremors were very strong, however, in Assam’s Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa and Udalguri, which border Bhutan. Guwahati and Shillong also felt the impact but there was no report of any casualty. The quake was the fifth to rock the Northeast in the past month.

The consul-general of Bhutan in Calcutta, Wangda Tshering, confirmed the deaths in the neighbouring country. “The capital Thimphu, too, felt strong tremors but there was minimal damage. We are yet to get detailed reports.”

Bhutan home minister Lyonpo Minjur Dorji was quoted as saying by the Bhutan Broadcasting Service that his ministry was co-ordinating with officials in rescue operations.