5.5 magnitude earthquake rocks Assam, Bhutan

GUWAHATI - An earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale rocked Assam and Bhutan Thursday, triggering panic among the people. This is the second tremor to jolt the region in the past two days.

According to the Regional Seisomological Centre in Meghalaya’s capital Shillong, the tremor was felt at 3.37 p.m. No casualties were reported yet.

The epicentre was located in Bhutan, 132 km northeast of Assam’s main city of Guwahati and 108 km east of the Himalayan kingdom’s capital Thimphu.

“The apartment where we stay was literally swaying for close to about 15 seconds. We rushed out of our home in panic,” said Anamika Das, a housewife in Guwahati.

On Tuesday, an earthquake of 5.5 magnitude rocked Assam and other northeastern states, causing damages to properties and cracks in apartments and concrete structures in Guwahati.

Tuesday’s epicentre was located along the India-Myanmar border, 105 km southeast of Manipur’s capital Imphal.

Thursday’s tremor is the seventh earthquake to have rocked the northeast since Aug 13, according to the Regional Seismological Centre.

The highest intensity tremor was Sep 21 with a 6.3 magnitude in Assam and Bhutan.

There was extensive damage in Bhutan with 12 people killed and scores of buildings collapsing. Several apartments in Guwahati also developed cracks in the Sep 21 quake.

The seven Northeastern states - Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur - are considered by the seismologists as the sixth major earthquake-prone belt in the world.

The region experienced one of the worst earthquakes, measuring 8.7 on the Richter Scale in 1897, that claimed the lives of over 1,600 people.