Magnitude 6.8 quake jolts Sikkim; Strong tremors felt in North & East India

Gantok - 18 Sep 2011 (IANS): At least two people were killed and 25 injured on Sunday in Sikkim after a 6.8 earthquake followed by two aftershocks shook the region, damaging houses and triggering mudslides.

According to theRegional Seismological Centre in Shillong, the tremor was felt at 6.10 p.m.

The first aftershock measuring 6.1 on the Richter Scale was experienced within 10 minutes. The second, measuring 5.3, followed at 6.41 p.m.

The epicentre was located along the Sikkim-Nepal border, about 70 km off Sikkim's capital Gangtok.

According to preliminary reports, Sandipan Banerjee, an official working with a pharmaceutical company, died in a house collapse at Rangpo, 40 km from Gangtok.

Another person was killed when the vehicle in which he was travelling was trapped in a massive mudslide near Bortuk on the outskirts of Gangtok.

About 25 people were injured when an apartment block collapsed in the town of Rangpo, Prakash Adhikary, a journalist in Gangtok, told IANS.

"My driver is unable to reach Gangtok and is stuck some 20 km away as the road has been blocked with mudslides," businessman Rakesh Somani said on telephone from Gangtok.

Another resident said at least a dozen houses had been damaged, with some roofs collapsing.

"We have reports of damage from places on the outskirts of Gangtok. Telecom lines are down and so it is very difficult to get information from the interior areas."

Cracks developed in houses and roofs in Assam's main city Guwahati. Lifts collapsed in apartment blocks in the city.

"The apartment where we stay was literally swaying for close to about 50 seconds. We rushed out of our home in panic," said Anamika Das, a housewife in Guwahati.

"Our lift collapsed and some people were stuck inside," said Arindam Das, a Guwahati resident.

The eight northeastern states - Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Sikkim, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur - are considered by seismologists as the sixth major quake-prone belt in the world.

The region experienced one of the worst earthquakes, measuring 8.7 on the Richter Scale in 1897, leaving over 1,600 people dead.