Mild intensity earthquake hits parts of NE states

Shillong/Agartala, Oct 18
A mild earthquake measuring 3.6 on the Richter scale was felt in Meghalaya's West Jaintia Hills around half-an-hour after Thursday midnight, officials said. A disaster management official said that the quake was felt in Meghalaya's mountainous district West Jaintia Hills and adjoining areas.

The mountainous district also shares a border with Bangladesh. According to the officials, there has been no immediate report of any casualty of life or damage to property due to the quake.

According to the National Centre for Seismology (NCS), the quake struck at a depth of 5 km from the surface. Meanwhile, tremors were also felt in western and southern Tripura after another earthquake measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale struck neighbouring Bangladesh after Thursday midnight.

As per the NCS data, the quake struck at a depth of 10 km from the surface. Tripura, which shares an 856 km border with Bangladesh, is surrounded on three sides by the neighbouring country.

On October 13, a light-intensity earthquake, measuring 4.2 on the Richter scale, hit Assam's Udalguri district on the northern bank of Brahmaputra. On October 4, a mild earthquake, measuring 3.6 on the Richter scale, was felt in northern Manipur’s Ukhrul district and adjoining Nagaland.

The mountainous Ukhrul district also shares a border with Myanmar. At least one state in the mountainous northeastern region experiences earthquakes every week with most tremors measuring 3 to 4 on the Richter scale.

Successive earthquakes, mostly mild to moderate, in the mountainous northeastern states, especially in Assam, Mizoram and Manipur, have kept the authorities worried, forcing public and private builders to build quake-proof structures. Seismologists consider the mountainous northeastern region as the sixth most earthquake-prone belt in the world.

In 1950, an earthquake measuring 8.7 on the Richter Scale altered the course of the mighty Brahmaputra river, which passes by the congested Guwahati city, the northeastern region's main commercial hub.