Earthquake jolts Arunachal Pradesh for second time in less than 24 hours

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.5 on the Richter scale jolted East Kameng area of Arunachal Pradesh at 4:24 AM today. This was the second quake that hit the north-eastern region of India. No loss of life or damage to property has been reported so far due to the earthquake in Arunachal Pradesh.

Earlier on Friday, an earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale jolted hit Arunachal Pradesh and the aftershocks keep coming.

"The quake occurred at 2.52 p.m. and had its epicentre in Arunachal Pradesh's East Kameng district," a seismologist was quoted as saying by IANS. The earthquake lasted for few seconds.

Tremors were felt in parts of Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland and adjoining areas of northeastern region.  

The first quake was at a depth of 10 km in East Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh. The second one of 3.8-magnitude was recorded at 3.04 pm, also at the depth of 10 km at another site in East Kameng.

The third 4.9-magnitude quake was recorded at 3.21 pm. It had its epicenter at a depth of 95 km in Kurung Kumey district of Arunachal, the website stated.

According to seismologists, the northeastern region comes under Zone 5 on the seismic map, making the states susceptible to earthquakes.

In the last few weeks, there has been an increase in seismic activity with at least 7 quakes reported from different parts of the world. The quakes reported from California and Indonesia were magnitude 7.1 or higher. 

While a 6.4 magnitude earthquake hit Southern California near the Searles Valley in San Bernardino County in early July, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake was again reported from the western US state in the next few days.

People in Uttarkashi region of Uttarakhand also witnessed a low-intensity earthquake early this month.

With Agency Inputs