Natural Disasters

6.9 temblor strikes Indo-Myanmar border, tremors felt across east and Northeast India

Second consecutive quake to strike South Asia in a week; 6.6 magnitude temblor had struck Afghanistan last weekend

 
By DTE Staff
Published: Wednesday 13 April 2016

Credit: US Geological Survey

An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter Scale struck the border of India and Mayanmar on Wednesday evening. No losses of life have been reported as yet.

Media reports said that the epicentre of the quake was the town of Mawlaik, northwest of Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city.

Powerful tremors were felt across Northeastern and eastern India, including the metropolis of Kolkata and the cities of Guwahati, Patna and Ranchi. Mild tremors were also felt in New Delhi and Chennai.

Tremors were also felt in the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal.

The quake comes within days of a 6.6 temblor in the Hindukush Mountain range in Afghanistan, the aftershocks of which were felt in Pakistan and Northern India as well.

Northeastern India is a seismically-active region, being the location of the Oldham fault, a lethal fault that is 78 miles long and dips between five and 20 miles under the surface of the Shillong Plateau south of Bhutan.

On June 12, 1897, the fault slipped by about 15 metres (50ft) and caused the 8.8 magnitude Assam Earthquake, the biggest recorded quake in modern history. However, only 1,542 died then although the damage to property was immense.

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