India, Feb. 25 -- A magnitude 5.1 earthquake hit the Bay of Bengal off the Odisha and West Bengal coasts around 6:10am on Tuesday. Tremors felt in Kolkata triggered panic even as there were no reports of immediate damage in the city and its surrounding areas.

The National Centre for Seismology said the quake occurred at a depth of 91 km in the Bay of Bengal.

Susmita Deb, a Kolkata resident, said she had just woken up when the earthquake struck and everything started shaking. "It lasted for a few seconds," she said.

Kolkata falls under seismic zone 4, which is susceptible to the high damage risk of severe earthquakes. There are four seismic zones with zone 5 being the most and zone 2 the least active. Around 11% of the country falls in ...