Residents of Mulugu and Warangal in Telangana initially mistook the earthquake for monkey wreaking havoc. A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck the region on Monday morning (December 4, 2024). The image is used for representative purposes only. | Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

Residents of Mulugu in Telangana, who were accustomed to the presence of monkeys, initially assumed that the primates had entered their homes to wreak havoc early on Monday morning (December 4, 2024). But they soon realized something unusual was happening when the walls of their houses began to shake. It took them a few moments to realize that a magnitude 5.3 earthquake had struck the region.

A. Mangamma, an assistant midwife (ANM) from SS Tadvai, shared her experience. “I was sorting things out at home when the containers and the cot started shaking. At first I thought it was the monkeys, because we have a lot of them here. But then the walls began to shake. I was confused and froze. The whole thing took about a minute,” she said.

A. Trishul, a resident of Mulugu, was lying on his bed when he felt the tremor. “The monkeys also started screaming, so I thought they were fighting on the roof of my house. But then I realized it couldn’t be them. “I wasn’t sure what was going on until I called my friends and found out it was an earthquake,” he explained.

The tremors were felt in several parts of erstwhile Warangal district. Munigala Sudarshan Reddy, an 86-year-old former Village Development Officer (VDO) from Nallabelli village, described how his chair and table shook during the earthquake.

Meanwhile, Ramachandram, a resident of Teachers’ Colony in Hanamkonda, said he was sitting on a chair and drinking water when he felt his body shaking. Thinking it was a health problem, he touched his chest. “It was only after I saw the news on TV that I realized it was an earthquake,” he said.

A 53-year-old man from Mathura Street in Kothagudem also shared his experience and said he was sleeping when he was woken up by the tremors caused by the quake.