Strong tremors rattle parts of state

Ibrahimbhai,a high school teacher in Bhuj,said,“Everyone ran out of their homes and they are very scared because of the devastation in 2001,but otherwise there have been no damage and we have not heard of any casualties.”

K Trivedi,a government employee in the district who attributes his family’s survival of the 2001 Bhuj earthquake as “an act of God” (he,his wife and children were in the yard when their house collapsed) said everyone was fine and there was no damage.

In Ahmedabad,an advertising professional Akeshwor Sharma said people from his 5th floor office building and those from the adjoining commercial high-rises on the busy Sarkhej-Gandhinagar highway rushed out as soon as the tremors shook.

A communications professional with a private firm with offices on Ashram Road said her 8th floor office shook heavily and could see from the window people standing on the parking area calling and waving to those inside to vacate as soon as possible.

Gyaneshwar Patil,a clerk in a private finance company on the 10th floor of International trade centre Building on Surat’s Ring Road,said,“Suddenly,something happened and my computer as well as my chair shook. After a few seconds again it shook. We vacated the building and went back inside only half-an-hour later.”

Vanchika Manghani,a Class IX student of Maheshwar School at Bhatar,said,“We were in tuition class on the 9th floor. Our teacher was writing on the board and it overlapped. This is for the first time we have experienced such tremors and we prayed as we rushed down the stairs. My father called me up and I told him that I was safe.”