Imphal, Feb 20: A 4.1 magnitude quake hit Meghalaya’s mountainous North Garo Hills district and adjoining areas on Thursday, officials said. According to a Disaster Management official of the Meghalaya government, the quake shook the hilly North Garo Hills district and adjoining areas of Assam.
The official said there has been no immediate report of loss of life or damage to property. According to the National Centre for Seismology (NCS) data, the tremor struck at a depth of 5 km from the surface and was recorded at 11.32 a.m.
Thursday’s tremor is the second earthquake in mountainous Meghalaya within 12 hours. On Wednesday night at around 11.43 p.m., a mild tremble measuring 3.1 on the Richter scale, hit Western Meghalaya’s mountainous West Garo Hills district adjoining North Garo Hills district and Assam.
As per the NCS data, the tremor struck at a depth of 10 km from the surface. According to NCS statistics, more than one quake every week hit a northeastern state 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, Manipur and Meghalaya, 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. Another earthquake of magnitude 6.5 on the Richter scale hit northeastern India in 1988, killing over 200 people in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
In 2011, an earthquake of magnitude 6.9 shook Sikkim and parts of West Bengal killing over 100 people. Another quake in 2017, with a magnitude of 5.7, struck 20 km northeast of Ambassa in Tripura’s Dhalai district. Disaster Management authorities are regularly conducting awareness campaigns about the frequent quakes in the northeastern states.
IANS