Jan 01: An earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale shook parts of the eastern Bhutan North East India on Thursday, triggering panic among the people.
The quake which occurred at 15.58 pm has its epicentre somewhere in eastern Bhutan, around 120 km east from capital Thimphu. There were no reports of injuries to people or damage to property.
This was the second quake in two days and the 34th this year in the region which falls in the highly seismic zone. A quake of similar intensity rocked the region on December 29.
On September 21, an earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter Scale was felt in the region. It was the biggest quake in the last twenty years.
Bhutan and the seven Northeastern states of India – Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur – are considered by the seismologists as the sixth major earthquake-prone belt in the world.
The region experienced one of the worst earthquakes, measuring 8.7 on the Richter Scale in 1897, that claimed the lives of over 1,600 people.
