A 6.4 magnitude quake, believed to be the biggest in a decade, shook most parts of the northeast and West Bengal Friday evening, however, there was no immediate report of any damage or casualty.
The epicenter of the quake, which took place at 7.24 pm, was located at the Indo-Myanmar border in Manipur, the Central Seismological Observatory in Shillong said.
People ran out of their homes as the quake shook the buildings for about 20 seconds while aftershocks were felt for a few more seconds. The epicenter was located at 24.8 degree north latitude and 94.6 degree east longitude.
The quake occurred 30 km below the earth’s surface and was felt in Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur and parts of Mizoram, West Bengal and Nagaland.
Officials say this was the biggest quake in the past ten years after 11th October 2000, when the intensity was 6 on the Richter scale.
On 21st September 2009, an earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter was felt in the region.
The quake had left over half a dozen dead in the neighbouring Bhutan where it had the epicenter.
The northeastern region, lying in the highest seismic risk zone, had experienced some of world’s worst quakes, be it the Shillong quake or the Assam one (1950), both measuring around 8.5 and reckoned to be two major quakes in human history, both in terms of intensity and destruction.