Map of Sonitpur District
Shillong: Damages to buildings have been reported within 100 km from Sonitpur, the epicentre of the 6.4 magnitude earthquake today morning, in areas of Sonitpur, Nagaon, Guwahati, the Central Seismological Observatory, North East Seismological Center (NCS), Shillong, said today.
The earthquake of magnitude Magnitude 6.4 on Richter Scale, was felt in entire North East region of India and some parts of Bihar, West Bengal and Bangladesh.
More than 70 felt reports due to this earthquake, have been received from Assam, Bihar, West Bengal and Bangladesh through NCS website and Mobile App having intensity ranging from I to V on Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) Scale.
A total of 6-number of aftershocks of magnitude range of Magnitude 3.2 to Magnitude 4.7 were located within 2 hours 30 minutes from the time of occurrence of Main shock of Magnitude 6.4, signifying the release of the stress in the vicinity of todays source zone in and around Sonitpur, Assam.
Also read: Assam Earthquake: Number of concrete buildings develop cracks in Guwahati
The earthquake had occurred today morning in Sonitpur, Assam with epicentre at 26.690 N and 92.360 E, focal depth of 17 Km at 07:51:25 IST. The epicentre is closer to the plate boundary and located at about 80 Km NE of Guwahati; 132 Km N of Shillong and 180 Km W of Jorhat.
The preliminary analysis shows that the events are located near to Kopili Fault closer to Himalayan Frontal Thrust (HFT). The area is seismically very active falling in the highest Seismic Hazard zone V associated with collisional tectonics where Indian plate subducts beneath the Eurasian Plate.
The historical and instrumentally recorded earthquake data (NCS catalogue) reveals that the region is affected by moderate to large earthquakes and the most prominent events among those are the July 29, 1960 Assam earthquake of M 6.0 (Fig. 1).
– global bihari bureau
