Strong quake in Myanmar, tremors in parts of north, east India

A strong earthquake epicentred in Myanmar shook parts of Bihar, West Bengal, northeastern India and Delhi-NCR on Wednesday, forcing people out of homes in panic.

There was no report of casualties or major damages, though a few injuries were reported.

The US Geological Survey said the magnitude-6.9 quake struck at a depth of 135km, 396km north of Myanmar capital Naypyidaw.

The earthquake, centered in the jungle and hills northwest of Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-biggest city, was felt in northeastern India’s Assam, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram and Nagaland.

The earthquake struck near Myanmar sent tremors across north and east India. (USGS)

Read: Kolkata lies right on top of faultline, may face major quake in future

“There is no report of major damage in Tripura, Mizoram, southern Assam and adjoining areas. Only some cracks developed in some buildings in Assam, Manipur and Mizoram adjoining Myanmar,” disaster management coordinator Sarat Das said.

All the northeastern states are categorised under zone V in the country’s seismological map and are considered highly vulnerable.

This was the second quake in the day in the region, after a medium-intensity temblor measuring 4.6 hit areas around Manipur capital Imphal at 9:26am.

In West Bengal capital Kolkata, people rushed out of office buildings and houses. Metro services were halted and movie theatres were evacuated.

“Once we came to know of the quake, we suspended Metro services. The trains...were slowly brought to the nearby stations,” a Metro Railway spokesperson said.

“After five minutes, the trains again started operating, but with speed restrictions.”

The tremors shook the gallery of Eden Gardens before an IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians.

Jolts were also felt in Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, said JL Gautam, operations head at the National Centre for Seismology.

Odisha’s coastal areas, including Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri, Balasore and Bhadrak, felt the quake.

Mild tremors were felt in Mayur Vihar in east Delhi and neighbouring Noida as people came out of their homes.

“I was sitting in my office when I felt the tremors at around 7.40pm. We immediately came out of the building. The tremors lasted for a few seconds,” Alok Kumar Kaushik, who works at a bank in north Delhi, said.

People also reported feeling the quake in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, 484km (300 miles) from the epicentre.

This comes three days after six people were killed and dozens injured in a 6.6-magnitude quake that struck South Asia on Sunday. It shook buildings and sparked panic in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

(With inputs from HTC in Kolkata, Bhubaneshwar and agencies)