An earthquake in coastal areas of eastern India on Sunday claimed one life in West Bengal and caused panic among the people.

The quake took place at around 0630 IST and lasted for a few seconds. It sent people out of their homes in the winter morning.

The director of the meteorology office in Bhubaneswar S C Sahu said the tremor was of 'great intensity' and around 3 in the modified Mercall intensity scale. The origin of the tremor was recorded at 0629 IST and its impact was felt at around 0633 IST.

A 48-year-old man died when he slipped into a pond, into which he was about to step in, as its water heaved under the impact of the quake, at Jatrapur-Bhatapukur in West Bengal's Nadia district, a report from Krishnagar said quoting official sources.

In the Sundarbans situated in the delta area, which is criss-crossed by rivers, the waters rose by about five feet creating panic among the people.

In West Bengal, the quake was felt in the southern districts of Kolkata, North and South 24 Parganas, Nadia, Hoogly, Barddhaman, East and West Midnapore.

There were no reports of any damage either in the Kolkata or Haldia ports or the sea resort town of Digha.

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In the coastal districts of neighbouring Orissa, people rushed out of their homes as glass panes and doors rattled, in some areas severely, under the impact of the quake.

What Orissa experienced was the ripple effect, IMD sources said.

Preliminary reports said the quake was felt in Puri, Cuttack, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Balasore, Mayurbhanj and Ganjam districts.

Sea water levels rose at Puri, Paradeep port and in Berhampore but there was no damage to property or flooding.

The tremor was not felt in the quake-prone Northeast, or north Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand.

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