Powerful tremors jolted the city around 1.30pm on Friday, sending Calcuttans rushing down staircases in panic. The magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Bangladesh, but with an epicentre less than 100km from the city, the tremors were felt strongly.
Metro spoke to two residents of high-rises who narrated their experiences.
Shruti Maheshwari, Sreya Saha
Shruti Maheshwari, 49
Businesswoman
33rd floor, Tower 2,
Urbana, EM Bypass
Shruti, who jointly runs her family business, was getting ready for a shower before going out shopping with her mother when the earthquake hit. The mother of two describes what it felt like to be on the 33rd floor.
It was a perfectly peaceful day. I was just about to go to the washroom. Our goldendoodle, Happy, was lying on the floor as he usually does when he is happy, when suddenly everything around me started to shake.
The lights and curtains were swaying, and there was a loud screeching sound. My first reaction was to lift Happy and run to the other room to fetch my mother. I was planning to evacuate the building at once.
A lot of thoughts started running through my mind. Should we take the lift or the stairs? Taking a flight of steps from the 33rd floor with my 69-year-old mother would not be easy, I thought.
By the time we were heading towards the main door, the tremors subsided. Everything calmed down, as if nothing had happened... I wondered for a few seconds if it had been an illusion, but almost immediately my phone rang. It was my husband. I realised it was not an illusion — he was calling to check on us.
Next, I checked our tower’s WhatsApp group. It was abuzz. By God’s grace, everyone was safe.
Sreya Saha, 32
Painter
13th floor, Morya,
Tollygunge
Sreya was in her 13th-floor apartment in Morya, an 18-storey housing complex along Basanta Lal Saha Road, when the earthquake shook Calcutta.
I was painting a wall plate when I felt the tremors. The floor beneath my feet was swaying.
I looked up and saw all the hanging lights swinging like pendulums. I realised it was an earthquake.
I rushed to the other room where my husband was sitting, and he seemed confused.
The first thought that came to mind was whether we should run downstairs as per the safety protocol in case of an earthquake. Living on the 13th floor, we always keep in mind what to do in case of a fire or an earthquake. But when it really happened, I felt confused. It became difficult to decide what I should do.
Just as we were planning to go down, the tremors receded. So we decided not to. I remained cautious for the next few minutes, apprehensive that there might be an aftershock. Thankfully, there was none.
A few days ago, when there was an earthquake, I had barely felt anything. But Friday was different.
Then I checked on my mother, who stays in a high-rise along EM Bypass. Much to my relief, she had not felt anything.
I took a break and then resumed painting.
