Khaled Aftab Saudi Gazette report PATNA — The powerful earthquake that originated in Nepal shook large parts of northern and eastern India on Saturday, damaging houses and buildings and sparking panic among the people. Nitish Kumar, chief minister of Bihar, said 25 people had died in his eastern Indian state. Residents and relief officials said cracks appeared in several buildings in Bihar. More reports are awaited as communication network in most part of north Bihar has been badly affected. There are also reports of power disruption in many parts of the Bihar. Kumar, who was in Delhi on Saturday, has cut short his visit to take first-hand account of the damage caused by the tremors in the state. The top officials in the state have been asked to be on high alert and in the field to monitor the situation. In Patna, the state capital of Bihar, panicked residents came out of the houses and offices when the first strong tremor was felt at 11.10 a.m. Thousands of them remained at roads and in open fields for hours fearing re-occurance of the tremor that hit the city thrice in the span of an hour. “I came out of the house as soon as I felt the first tremor but went back when it subsided but now I don't want to go back to my house again for sometime,” a visibly shaken resident of the city said after he came out in the open following the second tremor. Uday Narayan Choudhary, speaker of Bihar assembly and state food minister Shyam Rajak, ran out in the open during a program at Kurji Holy Hospital in the state capital. Rajak said they were attending a program for welfare of downtrodden children at the Kurji hospital when they felt the tremor and ran out of the building alongwith the children. Modassir Jamal, a resident of Patna, said he was talking on phone to someone in the city when he felt the tremor, he shouted, “It's an earthquake,” the man on the other side confirmed it, while hurriedly disconnecting the call. In the aftermath of the shocks and aftershocks, most residents of Patna complained that their calls are going through as they are trying to know the well being of their families and friends in the city and elsewhere in the state. Mohammad Israr Khan, an associate professor at Arvind Mahila College, Patna, said that he is worried about his younger brother, Imitiaz, who was on his way back to Patna from Kathmandu, Nepal. The last time he spoke to Imtiaz when he had entered Indian border early in the morning but after the earthquake, khan's countless attempts to reach his brother on phone proved futile. Byas Ji, Bihar's disaster management chief secretary, said strong tremors were felt in many parts of the state.
