Kalimpong/Siliguri: Tremors from an earthquake of 4.9-magnitude on the Richter scale shook Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Siliguri, adjoining areas of north Bengal and parts of West and East Sikkim, including Gangtok, early on Thursday, around 4.30 am. No casualty or damage to properties was reported.According to National Centre for Seismology (NCS), the epicentre lay in Nepal, around 40 km northwest of Yuksom in Sikkim, at a depth of 73 km. While most residents slept through the event, some were jolted out of sleep but the tremors were not strong enough to raise an alarm.“As I felt my bed shaking, I woke up. I was not sure if it was an earthquake. It was only later in the morning that I received an earthquake alert on my phone,” said Pema Choden Bhutia, a schoolteacher in Siliguri. Kalimpong resident Jyoti Tamang was woken up by the rattling of her window. “I woke up and realised it was an earthquake,” she said.In Gangtok, Shreya Pradhan was alone at home. “I decided to stay put inside till it subsided shortly,” she said.Lakpa Tamang (62), an ex-serviceman, called the tremors mild. Echoing him, another ex-serviceman, Nirmal Rai, said, “Compared to the 2011 Sikkim earthquake and the 2015 Nepal earthquake, Thursday’s tremors were insignificant.
