02-15-2006, 09:14 PM
Moderate intensity quake rocks northeast India
(DPA)
14 February 2006
NEW DELHI - An earthquake of moderate intensity rocked northeastern India early Tuesday triggering panic among residents of the region, news reports said.
The epicentre of the quake, measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale, was located in the northeastern state of Sikkim, officials of the stateâs weather office said.
The tremor shook the states of Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and northern West Bengal, IANS news agency reported.
Officials in the northeastern states said there were no immediate reports of casualties or heavy damage. Some houses in Sikkim sustained cracks.
Indiaâs northeast is considered by seismologists to be among one of the most earthquake-prone regions in the world. An earthquake measuring 8.5 on the Richter scale left 1,500 people dead in Assam state on August 15, 1950.
The tectonic plates of Asia and the Indian subcontinent collide at the Himalayan mountain belt and its foothill region causing seismic activity in the region.
The area stretches from northeastern India into Pakistan and Afghanistan in the west. More than 75,000 people were killed in a major earthquake in the Kashmir region in India and Pakistan in October 2005.
(DPA)
14 February 2006
NEW DELHI - An earthquake of moderate intensity rocked northeastern India early Tuesday triggering panic among residents of the region, news reports said.
The epicentre of the quake, measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale, was located in the northeastern state of Sikkim, officials of the stateâs weather office said.
The tremor shook the states of Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and northern West Bengal, IANS news agency reported.
Officials in the northeastern states said there were no immediate reports of casualties or heavy damage. Some houses in Sikkim sustained cracks.
Indiaâs northeast is considered by seismologists to be among one of the most earthquake-prone regions in the world. An earthquake measuring 8.5 on the Richter scale left 1,500 people dead in Assam state on August 15, 1950.
The tectonic plates of Asia and the Indian subcontinent collide at the Himalayan mountain belt and its foothill region causing seismic activity in the region.
The area stretches from northeastern India into Pakistan and Afghanistan in the west. More than 75,000 people were killed in a major earthquake in the Kashmir region in India and Pakistan in October 2005.