8-yr-old child killed as quake hits twice in NE
Source: The Sangai Express / Press Trust of India

Guwahati, April 16 2013: An eight-year-old child was killed in a mudslide in Assam today as two earthquakes jolted the state along with other northeastern states and Odisha.

Three children, who had gone for fishing in river Beki at Kalgasia village in Assam's Barpeta district, were swept into the waters by the mudslide during the first tremor, official sources said.

While Jehirul Nessa (8) drowned, the other two Moidul Islam and Kamala Khatun were rescued and admitted to the hospital.

The first tremor measuring 4.6 on the Richter scale was felt at 6:53 am in Assam and the neighbouring states of Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, according to the Regional Seismological Centre in Shillong.

The tremor was located at latitude 26.3 degree North and 92.0 degree East with its epicentre at a depth of 16 km in Assam's Darrang district.

The second quake of moderate intensity measuring 5.0 struck at 2:04 pm at a depth of 10 km at latitude 29.0 degree North and Longitude 95.0 degree East on the India-China border in Arunachal Pradesh, the met centre said.

In Odisha, the tremor occurred at 8:36 am in Puri district with its epicentre at about 40 km from the seismological observatory at Bhubaneswar, the Meteorological Centre said.

The earthquake was felt in Astaran and nearby areas in the district, but no casualty was reported.

Another quake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter Scale at 4:14 pm, was epicentred on Pakistan-Iran border, Indian Meterological Department said.

The quake took place 33 km down the surface.

The tremors were felt in Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana and people were seen rushing out of high-rises in the national capital.

"I was inside my office in Connaught Place.

I felt the chair trembling and rushed out of office," Priya Dev, a chartered accountant in Delhi, said.

There were no immediate reports of any damage or casualty.

Mild tremors were today felt in parts of Rajasthan but there is no initial report of any loss.

"There are reports of tremors from different parts of the state though initially there is no report of loss to life or property," police control room in Jaipur said.

Western, central and southern parts of Gujarat also felt the tremors.

"There are no immediate reports of damage," Birju patel, deputy director of the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority, said.

Earlier in the day, a moderate quake shook Arunachal Pradesh.

The tremors measuring 5 on the Richter Scale was recorded at 2:04 pm with epicentre on India (Arunachal Pradesh)-China border.

The last time Delhi experienced tremors was on June 19 last year.

A quake, measuring 3.8 on the Richter Scale and epicentred at Jhajjar in Haryana, was felt in the capital that day.

On March five last year, an earthquake measuring 4.9 on the Richter Scale with Haryana's Bahadurgarh as epicentre shooks parts of the capital.

In Delhi, the fire brigade and police said they have not received any immediate calls of casualty or damage.

According to the Seismic Zone Mapping done by the Geological Survey of India (GSI), Delhi is among 30 cities in the country falling in zone IV, which is defined as a severe intensity seismic zone.

"The event, which comes under the category of 'Great earthquake', was also widely felt in parts of north-western India.

No significant aftershock activity is reported so far.

"No major damage is expected in India due to this earthquake.

Some damage is likely in the epicentral area, i.e, in the Pakistan-Iran border region," the preliminary report on the quake prepared by IMD said.

Comment