Moderate quakes hits northeast India, no major damage

Tremors were felt across Northeast India and Bangladesh as an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.7 jolted in Tripura.

Agartala/Guwahati/Shillong, Jan 3: A 5.7-magnitude earthquake hit India's northeastern region and Bangladesh on Tuesday. There was no report of any major damage, officials said. "The quake hit most states of the northeastern region at 2.39 p.m.," an official of the Tripura Disaster Management Centre said.

The epicentre of the quake was said to be Dhalai in northern Tripura and the depth of the tremblor was measured at 28 km. The official said the tremor shook most of the northeastern states and adjoining Bangladesh.

"Cracks developed in some old buildings, including few police stations, in Kamalpur and Salema in Tripura's Dhalai district," the official added. Experts consider India's mountainous northeast the sixth major quake-prone belt in the world.

The region has seen some of the biggest quakes in history. In 1897, a Shillong-epicentred quake measured 8.2 on the Richter scale. In 1950, an earthquake in Assam measuring 8.7 on the Richter Scale forced the mighty Brahmaputra river to change its course. In September 2011, Sikkim suffered heavy damage after a quake hit the state.

IANS