An early-morning jolt on that same day in the Bay of Bengal was enough to rattle some of coastal Andhra Pradesh. The 4.5 event left Visakhapatnam with a few light shivers, but officials have put to rest any concern: no one was hurt and nothing was broken. Still, the quake has put a spotlight on what is happening seismically off the east coast.
Location and timing
The National Center for Seismology has the time of the quake down to 05:05:46 IST, at a 10 km depth. They have since put a ‘Reviewed’ stamp on the event, meaning the numbers have been put through their paces and are good to go.
NCS figures put the epicentre at 16.805 N, 84.381 E, well out in the Bay of Bengal. Because the ground zero was so far from land, there was little to worry about for those along the Andhra Pradesh shore.
Proximity to coastal cities
By the numbers, the epicentre was some 227 km to the east of Kakinada and 275 km from Rajahmundry. It was also 282 km south of Berhampur and 367 km to the south-southwest of Puri in Odisha, with Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh 355 km to the southeast.
INCOIS put the distance at around 225 km from the Kakinada coast, which is in line with the other figures. It was an Andhra Pradesh matter more than an Odisha one, but the sea between the two provided a buffer against any structural trouble.
What people felt in Visakhapatnam
Some 300 km to the southwest of where it all started, folks in Visakhapatnam noticed some light movement. A quick look at X or Reddit will show posts from areas like MVP Colony, Pedawaltair, Gajuwaka, Yendada and Arilova of a momentary sway.
Those who were there say it was over in a matter of seconds. There was no panic to speak of, according to those in charge. As for any loss of life or property, the answer is none.
Why the tremors were felt
At 10 km you are in the shallow end, and that tends to let you feel the ground move even if the magnitude is not much to write home about. But with the source so far out in the water, the energy was spent before it could do any harm to a building.
If you look at the mileage from the epicentre to the various cities in Andhra and Odisha, it makes sense why the effect on land was so limited. In the end, it was just a harmless, passing tremor for some along the coast.
Here is the bottom line for anyone in the area:
– 4.5 on the scale – not a number that does damage
– A short, mild shake in Visakhapatnam
– Zero casualties, zero damage
What the agencies recorded
The NCS has it at 16.805 N, 84.381 E. The ‘Reviewed’ tag is there to show the data has been verified. 10 km deep and 4.5 in strength are the final word on it.
INCOIS also has the 5:05:46 a.m. timestamp and the 225 km figure for Kakinada. You may see a slight variation in how the distance is put, but both are in agreement that this was a Bay of Bengal occurrence, far from the mainland.
In Visakhapatnam it was less of an emergency and more of a nudge to remember that quakes can come from out to sea. After a brief shudder and a bit of online chatter, life went on as normal once the authorities had their say.
Put it all together and the story is straightforward: a 4.5 hit the Bay of Bengal at 05:05:46 IST, 10 km down and near 16.805 N, 84.381 E, some 225 to 227 km from Kakinada. Visakhapatnam felt it as a mild tremor and called it a day.
