Moderate intensity quake jolts Gujarat

The tremor, whose epicentre was in the Kutch region of the state, struck at 11.51 pm, the Met office in Delhi said.

An earthquake of moderate intensity, measuring 5.2 on the Richter Scale, jolted several parts of Gujarat late on Tuesday night after which the people rushed out of their homes in panic but there were no immediate reports of casualty or damage to buildings.

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The tremor, whose epicentre was in the Kutch region of the state, struck at 11.51 pm, the Met office in Delhi said.

The quake lasting for nearly a minute were felt in Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Surat and parts of Saurashtra and many parts of Ahmedabad where several multi-storyed buildings shook under its impact.

With memories of the devastating earthquake of January 26 2001, when nearly 1,000 people were killed in the state, still fresh in their minds, men, women and children refused to return to their homes even after the tremors stopped and chose to remain outdoor.

People in Vadodara, Surat, surendranagar, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and parts of Saurashtra also rushed out of their houses.

Subhash, a 7th storey resident of a high rise building in Bodakdev locality of Ahmedabad, aid he felt the floor shake and felt giddy when the tremor stuck.

"It was reminiscent of the January 26, 2001 quake. The first instinct was to rush downstairs", he said.

Residents of Mansi building in city were particularly perturbed because this building had collapsed in 2001 earthquake and was rebuilt recently.