The ongoing seventh session of the 12th Manipur legislative assembly was adjourned for five minutes following an earthquake on the final day of the session on Tuesday.
The tremor occurred at around 12.08pm when Congress legislature party leader K Meghachandra was moving a motion on the Jal Jeevan Mission while discussing issues related to the Public Health Engineering Department.
Sensing the tremor, the senior Congress MLA, who represents the Wangkhem assembly constituency in Thoubal district, immediately stopped his speech.
Following this, Assembly Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh announced a five-minute adjournment of the 60-member House. Proceedings later resumed and continued normally.
It may be noted that the ongoing Budget session of the Manipur Assembly began on March 9, with six out of nine Kuki-Zo legislators participating virtually for the first time since the crisis began in Manipur in May 2023.
Later, it was learnt that the epicentre of the earthquake, which measured 4.3, was in Kamjong district of Manipur.
Confirming the development in a post on X, the National Centre for Seismology under the Ministry of Earth Sciences said, “Earthquake of Magnitude 4.3, On 17/3/2026 12:08:51 IST, Lat: 24.86 N, Long: 94.18 E, Depth: 45 km, location: Kamjong, Manipur. For more information download the BhooKamp App.”
There were no reports of damage to the Assembly building or surrounding structures till the filing of the report. No casualties were reported either inside or outside the Assembly premises.
{{/usCountry}}There were no reports of damage to the Assembly building or surrounding structures till the filing of the report. No casualties were reported either inside or outside the Assembly premises.
{{/usCountry}}It may be recalled that Manipur had witnessed a major earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale on January 4, 2016, which claimed eight lives and damaged several houses and structures, including the iconic Ima Keithel (Women’s Market) in Imphal.