Hyderabad, March 1 -- When tremors suddenly struck Vetlapalem village in Andhra Pradesh's Kakinada district on Saturday afternoon, locals were initially unsure of what was going on.

"We thought it was an earthquake. Our houses were shaking and the walls developed cracks. Some electric appliances caught fire," said Veerraju, a resident.

Another resident said that the force of the tremors shattered the windows of her house. "I thought it was a cylinder blast from the neighbouring house," she said.

Veerraju said that it took at least half an hour before the villagers realised that powerful explosions were repeatedly ripping through the nearby Suryasri Fireworks Centre. "A dense smoke enveloped the area as repeated explosions echoed for se...