6.8 quake jolts India’s Northeast, damage feared
At least a dozen houses collapsed in this Sikkim capital on Sunday due to a strong 6.8 earthquake which jolted large parts of eastern and northern India, witnesses said.
The quake was the fourth tremor reported in the country in September so far, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
"At least a dozen houses houses have collapsed. There could be injuries to people as well but phone lines are down," journalist Prakash Adhikari said.
The damage could be more severe on the outskirts of Sikkim as the quake's epicentre was on the Sikkim-Nepal border region.
In Assam's major city Guwahati, people panicked and ran out on the streets after the quake shook their houses.
According to the India Meteorological Department, the quake struck at 6.10 p.m.
Seismologists consider the Indian northeast to be the sixth most earthquake-prone belt in the world.
There have been a total of 15 earthquakes of significance in India and its neighbourhood, as well as all over the world in September this year. The most high-intensity quakes of 7.0 on the Richter scale each were reported from the South Pacific island nations of Vanuatu (on September 3) and Fiji (on September 15).
The first quake in India was reported in Manipur's Ukhrul district on September 4, and its intensity was 4.2. The second, on September 7, was also of low 4.2 intensity and epicentred in Haryana's Sonepat region. The tremors were felt in Delhi and most of north India.
The third on September 11 was epicentred in Gujarat's Kutch region, but its intensity was a mere 3.4.
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