A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.3 struck various parts of Northeast India including Arunachal Pradesh near the international border with China and Assam, say seismologists and residents.
According to media reports, the earthquake, which struck at 1:45 a.m. IST (2:15 a.m. CST) on Wednesday, was centred just west of Mouling National Park, about 43 km (27 miles) northwest of Aalo, the headquarters of West Siang district in Arunachal Pradesh.
Also read: Earthquake rocks parts of Assam, Northeast
Media reports say that China’s Earthquake Network Center put the preliminary magnitude at 6.3 while the U S Geological Survey put it slightly lower at 6.1. However, both said the earthquake was very shallow with a depth of less than 10 km (6.2 miles).
The epicentre of the earthquake that took place in the wee hours on Wednesday was close to the international border with China, about 130 km (61 miles) south of Nyingchi in Tibet.
It has been reported that the impact of the earthquake may also have been felt in parts of neighbouring countries like Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh.
A media report quoted residents near the epicentre as saying that the earthquake woke them up and felt fairly strong.
“My life’s biggest shake, I think,” the EMSC report quoted a resident in Dibrugarh as saying.
Another resident reportedly said: “A strong jerk for few seconds left us thunderstruck.”
It has been reported that more than 8.5 million people may have felt Wednesday’s earthquake, including 72,000 people who may have experienced moderate to strong shaking.
However, there was no immediate report of any damage or casualties.