In the afternoon of Friday, panic gripped the City of Joy as a quake rocked Kolkata and a number of neighbouring West Bengal districts. The tremors came around 1:22 PM IST. Thousands of residents and office workers fled buildings and rushed into open spaces. An early automated mobile warning initially estimated the earthquake to be magnitude 5.0.
Epicenter and Seismic Details
The quake originated at the border of Bangladesh, with the epicenter located just 3 kilometers inside the Bangladeshi territory near the Indian border town of Satkhira.
- Magnitude: 5.4 according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC).
- Depth: The quake occurred at a relatively shallow depth of 35 kilometers, making the vibrations felt in cities around Kolkata much stronger.
- Location: About 47 km northeast of Gosaba, India.
Kolkata Street Panic
The shaking lasted for several seconds, but sent ripples throughout the metropolitan community.
- Mass Evacuations: Workers in commercial centers such as Dalhousie, Salt Lake, and Park Street fled high-rise office buildings as furniture swayed and windows rattled.
- Public Events Interrupted: A video was shown of Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar halting mid-speech at a public assembly in Kolkata when the ground shook.
- Netizens Reacted: Reports of fans swaying, water in bottles rippling, and kitchenware toppling were inundated with coverage on social media. The experience was “shaken to the core,” a high-rise resident said.
Damage Assessment and Casualties
By 2:30 PM IST, fortunately, there were no immediate reports of casualties or major structural collapses in West Bengal. But officials in North Kolkata have expressed concern that some aging, crowded buildings have been affected amid minor cracks in some older structures. This is the city’s second big earthquake to occur this month, after a 5.9-magnitude shake near Myanmar on February 3, 2026.
