A hill in Bhairabkunda in Udalguri district. Udalguri adjoins Sonitpur district, the epicentre of the earthquake. (Photo by special arrangement)
GUWAHATI: A massive earthquake of 6.4 magnitude hit Assam on Wednesday morning, causing widespread damage in the Northeast state. The quake was followed by six aftershocks.
The National Centre of Seismology (NCS) said six aftershocks of magnitude, ranging from 3.2 to 4.7, occurred within two and half hours from the time of the occurrence of mainshock of 6.4 Magnitude, signifying the release of the stress in the vicinity of the source zone in and around Sonitpur district of Assam.
The epicentre of the earthquake was closer to the plate boundary and located at about 80 Km north-east of Guwahati; 132 km north of Shillong and 180 km west of Jorhat.
Few early pictures of damage in Guwahati. pic.twitter.com/lTIGwBKIPV
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) April 28, 2021
“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 NCS said in a statement.
Images of the damage in Guwahati due to the #earthquake. Inmates of a number of apartments in Guwahati are not going back to their accommodations as they developed cracks.@prasmaz_tnie pic.twitter.com/RVALxRxIoE
— The New Indian Express (@NewIndianXpress) April 28, 2021
It said the historical and instrumentally-recorded earthquake data (NCS catalogue) revealed 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 Magnitude 6.
“The earthquake (of Wednesday) is felt in the 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 the NCS website and Mobile App having intensity ranging from I to V on Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) Scale Figure 3.
Damages to buildings also reported within 100 km from the epicentre in areas of Sonitpur, Nagaon and Guwahati as received from Central Seismological Observatory, NCS, Shillong,” the statement said.
