At least six people were killed and over 90 injured as a strong 6.8 magnitude earthquake epicentred in Manipur today hit the northeastern region, causing damage to buildings and triggering panic.
The epicentre of the earthquake was 35 kms northwest of Imphal. People panicked and rushed out of their homes in Gauhati, the capital of neighboring Assam state, as they felt massive shaking at least twice within 60 seconds.India’s Meteorological Department said the epicentre of the quake was in Tamenglong region of Manipur. It struck before dawn on Monday at a depth of 17 kms in the India-Myanmar border region. The U.S. Geological Survey said the depth was 55 kms.

The high-intensity earthquake also jolted parts of Tibet with many residents waking up after feeling the ground shake. The earthquake affected the prefectures of Nyingchi, Shannan and Qamdo as well as the regional capital Lhasa reporting “strong tremors."In India it was felt in several parts of Jharkhand with people rushing out from homes in Dumka. People in Ranchi, Giridih, Chatra, Lohardaga districts also experienced mild tremors, officials said.

Nine aftershocks occurred till Monday noon in the wake of the early morning earthquake.

The aftershocks including a 3.6 magnitude tremor were recorded by the CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute’s broadband seismological network, which was installed in the North-east region. “When earthquakes of this magnitude occur, they are followed by aftershocks which are expected to continue for a few days”, said D. Sri Nagesh, seismologist and head of the seismological observatory at NGRI here.
he Army and Air Force have started working on relief and rescue operations in quake-hit Manipur. A defence official said an AN32 plane of Air Force was going to Imphal from Guwahati to take 75 NDRF personnel for relief and rescue operations.


Facebook has already activated its safety check tool to help people in the area let friends and family know they are safe. “A major earthquake just struck northeastern India and we’ve activated Safety Check to help people in the area let friends and family know they’re safe,” Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg wrote. “Tremors were also felt in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nepal. If you appear to be nearby, we will send you a notification to access Safety Check so you can share that you are safe and see that people you care about are safe as well,” Zuckerberg posted on Facebook.