Earthquakes in West Bengal, Jharkhand, Andaman and Nicobar islands

Earthquakes struck the states of West Bengal, Jharkhand and the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar islands on Sunday, while countries like Indonesia, Papa New Guinea, Japan and Peru also saw earthquakes take place over the weekend.

A 4.8 magnitude earthquake was recorded in the Bankura District of West Bengal at 10:39am on Sunday. The epicentre was 10 km deep taking place at 23.3 degrees North and 86.9 degrees East, according to the Indian Meteorological Department(IMD).

No casualties or damage was reported by Sunday afternoon. Tremors were felt in neighbouring Jharkhand as well.

Earlier in the day, at 07:49am, another earthquake was recorded in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands at a depth of 35km below the surface, latitude 08.2 degrees and longitude 93.3 degrees.

On Saturday, two earthquakes of magnitude 5.0 and 4.8 were recorded in the Andaman and Nicobar islands.

Globally, earthquakes occurred in multiple coutnries across the weekend.

Peru was hit by a magnitude 8.0 earthquake at 1:11pm on Sunday. Indonesia and Papa New Guinea also recorded earthquakes of up to magnitude 5.0 between Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, a 5.1 magnitude earthquake was even recorded as far East as Japan, hours before a high-profile visit by US president Donald Trump was expected. A tsunami warning has not been issued on account of these earthquakes, yet. 

Some Indian Twitter users joked that the earthquakes were a side-effect of election-related “political drama.”