Photo: AFP An Indian man gestures next to a downed power line in Imphal on January 4, 2016, after a strong 6.7 magnitude quake struck north-east India near the country’s borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh.
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The US Geological Survey said the quake hit at 4:35am local time (23:05 GMT Sunday), 29km west-northwest of Imphal, capital of Manipur state, where dozens of buildings were damaged.
A girl was killed in a building collapse at Tamenglong district, while another person died at Taobungkhok village in Imphal West district, police said.
He said that though a bridge in the western part of the district over the river has been damaged, but connectivity was not a major problem with Imphal, located 146 km from district headquarter. There have been no casualties reported on the Myanmar side of the border. Have you been affected by what has been happening? There were similar scenes in the north-eastern city of Guwahati, in the state of Assam, where a journalist said residents were “in a state of shock” after being woken by the shaking.
Dhaka Superintendent of Police Farukh Hossain also noted that the tremors reached Bangladesh, where over 30 people were injured as they rushed out of their buildings in panic and one person reportedly died due to heart attack, reported CNN News on Monday.
Residents of Imphal said people fled their homes as the pre-dawn quake shook buildings. Of the injured 33 were in serious condition and admitted to different hospitals in Manipur, including the state-run RIIMS and JNIMS, while the rest were discharged after first aid. “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”, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said in a post.
The tremor was felt in Manipur, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and some other states.
India’s northeast region is considered the world’s sixth most earthquake-prone belt. To assess the safety of partially damaged public buildings and advise the state government on issues related to fix and retrofitting, the National Disaster Management Authority is deploying a team of experts.
The death toll is expected to rise, an officer said in Imphal.
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The Home Minister briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi over phone about the situation and the steps taken for rescue and relief. Manipur state’s home minister, G. Gaikhangam, said several parts of the state suffered extensive damage.
