'Had it been winter, you would have found the entire village dead under the debris'

Just 20 km from Jabalpur on the Jabalpur-Mandla highway, village after village is in the grip of terror.

Thursday's earthquake left a trail of death and destruction in several villages of Barela tehsil, which was the epicentre of the tremors. The widespread damage to houses in Kosamaghat, Donda Mehgoan, Charghat, Rausra, Jamunia and Belwara villages created a scene reminiscent of carpet bombing.

When a United News of India correspondent entered Kosamaghat village, the entire population was sitting under whatever shade they could get under the trees. All the 150 houses in the villages had been flattened. More than 30 villagers of the village's 950 residents received serious injuries and were admitted to the Jabalpur government hospital.

Madan Lal Yadav, a member of the Gram Sabha, said the villagers were lucky to escape death as the entire village was sleeping outside because of the heat. ''Had it been winter, you would have found the entire village dead under the debris,'' he said.

The scene at Charghat, Rausra, Jamunia and Belwara was not different as several houses were flattened while others were partially damaged.

Most of the villagers thanked providence that they were sleeping outside their houses and thus escaped certain death. Sixty-year-old Shantibai at Charghat shudders at the dreadful sound of the earthquake, which filled the air. The earth trembled, she said, with houses falling all around like a house of cards.

Geological Survey of India experts do not anticipate any immediate major earthquakes in Jabalpur and nearby areas of Madhya Pradesh, where a powerful quake left at least 40 people dead and caused extensive damage to property.

''The worst is over for Jabalpur,'' GSI scientist R K Chaturvedi said. Thursday's earthquake was followed by aftershocks at 0600 hours, 0850 hours and later at 0900 hours. As the aftershocks were felt in the affected areas, Chaturvedi said any further earthquakes of such intensity were unlikely in the region.

However, the GSI scientist did not rule out the possibility of tremors occurring somewhere else as a chain reaction due to crystal adjustments. ''This is a natural adjustment which may lead to an earthquake somewhere else,'' he added.