E-Paper
6.4 magnitude quake hits Assam, 10 injured
The earthquake lasted for nearly 30 seconds and was followed by 10 aftershocks of magnitudes ranging from 4.7 to 2.9 within the next eight hours.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake shook Assam on Wednesday and caused damage to buildings and injured at least 10 people even as there were no reports of loss of lives. According to National Centre for Seismology (NCS), the quake struck at 7.51 am and its epicentre was in Sonitpur district at a depth of 17 km. The earthquake lasted for nearly 30 seconds and was followed by 10 aftershocks of magnitudes ranging from 4.7 to 2.9 within the next eight hours.
“Preliminary analysis shows that the event is located near to Kopili Fault closer to Himalayan Frontal Thrust (HFT). The area is seismically very active falling in the highest seismic hazard zone (V) associated with collisional tectonics where Indian Plate subducts beneath the Eurasian Plate,” said an NCS report.
Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) officials said 10 people have sustained injuries in Darrang, Kamrup (Metropolitan) and Sonitpur districts of the state. “We are still collecting details of the exact damages from all districts. Some reports said that two persons died due to quake. But we found one of them died due to cardiac arrest and the other was a Covid-19 patient,” said Dhiraj Saud, state coordinator, ASDMA.
He added that many apartment blocks, private buildings and a portion of the state secretariat in state capital Guwahati and some buildings in Nagaon, Tezpur and Golaghat sustained cracks. “This is the biggest earthquake I have felt.. it continued for nearly 30 seconds. As we stay on the 3rd floor of our building, we just waited and prayed it would end soon without causing major damage,” said Dipika Gogoi, a resident of Bamunimaidan in Guwahati.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers Amit Shah and Jitendra Singh spoke to chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal over the earthquake.
