Earthquake Jolts Assam, Manipur and Nagaland

An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale jolted India's northeast, Myanmar and Bangladesh on Monday, triggering panic among people. The tremor was felt at 8.47 am in most parts of Assam, Nagaland, and Manipur, besides in Bangladesh and Myanmar. The epicentre was located at 24.947°N, 95.226°E in Myanmar, about 130 km east of Manipur capital Imphal, the reports said. No casualities have been reported so far.

Seven northeastern states - Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur - are considered by seismologists to be the sixth most earthquake-prone belt in the world. The region experienced one of the worst earthquakes, measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale, in 1897, that claimed the lives of over 1,600 people. In September, more than 50 people died after a killer quake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale shook the region.