An earthquake of 5.4 magnitude rocked the north-eastern part of India including Assam and Meghalaya on Friday, injuring two in a wall collapse. No casualties have been reported so far.
According to the Indian Meteorological Department, the earthquake struck at 6:11 pm around Jakhalabandha in Assam, about 150 km from the state capital Guwahati.
The earthquake triggered panic among people who fled out into the streets. Two persons in Kampur, Nagaon district, were injured when they fell from a building while attempting to flee. They were admitted to the Nagaon civil hospital and are reported to be out of danger.
A small RCC house was damaged completely in Bholbholia gaon in Kampur. The Kampur police station officer-in-charge H.C. Kalita said that there was no report on any major damage in the earthquake so far, a Telegraph report said.
The earthquake brought back painful memories of the 1950 disaster in which more than 1,500 people were killed. The quake with a magnitude of 8.6 was located near Rima, in Tibet, near the Indo-China border, causing destruction in both Assam and Tibet on the day of Indian independence.
"It was like the one in 1950. I had never felt such a tremor since then ... the intensity of the tremor, I think, was the highest in Hojai. Wall tiles of a pharmacy next door peeled off," Telegraph quoted Irrigation Minister Ardhendu Dey as saying.
"I immediately contacted the deputy commissioner, but there was no casualty reported," he added.
Local reports said that a mosque near the Sadar police station in Nagaon and several buildings were damaged in the impact of the tremor that lasted nearly five seconds.
Mild tremors were also felt in Kolkata, its surrounding districts and northern West Bengal. People in some of the high-rise buildings rushed out.
Seismologists have termed the seven northeastern states, including Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, as the sixth major earthquake-prone belt in the world.
(With inputs from IBNS)
