Maharashtra: Parts of Hingoli district jolted by earthquake of 4.7 magnitude, no casualties
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (PTI): An earthquake of 4.7 magnitude struck parts of Hingoli district in Marathwada region of Maharashtra on Saturday morning, while tremors were also felt in parts of neighbouring Nanded and Parbhani districts, officials said.
There are no reports of immediate loss to life, they said.
Some houses and community halls in Pangra Shinde village developed cracks, Hingoli Collector Rahul Gupta told PTI over the phone.
Nanded district officials cited a reading in the National Centre for Seismology that calculated the magnitude of the earthquake at 4.7, recorded at 8:45 AM. The epicentre was located at a depth of 10 kilometres below the ground at Shirli village in Vasmat taluka of Hingoli district, they added.
Tremors were also felt in neighbouring Nanded city and rural areas, talukas of Ardhapur, Hadgaon, and Himayatnagar, and in parts of Parbhani district, officials said.
While no loss of life has been reported from any of the affected districts so far, there have been reports of minor structural damage.
"I have received images showing cracks in houses and community halls in Pangra Shinde village in Hingoli district. Our teams are heading to the site to assess the situation and record the exact extent of the losses," Hingoli Collector Gupta said.
Local authorities have urged citizens to remain calm and follow safety protocols. Emergency response teams have been placed on standby in Nanded and Parbhani as a precautionary measure.
Authorities have advised people living in houses with tin-sheet roofs to remove heavy stones placed on top for support and instead secure the sheets with bolts as a safety measure. In case of any further tremors or unusual sounds, residents are advised to immediately move to open spaces and inform the administration by calling the emergency helpline, the Nanded district administration said.
"When I was sitting in my college staffroom doing my work. I suddenly felt a tremor. As I heard a different sound, I was confused. Then I realised it was a mild earthquake, " said a college teacher in Nanded.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
