Earthquakes strike Northeast, West Bengal; PM assures assistance

An earthquake of 58 magnitude struck parts of the Northeast and adjoining West Bengal on Sunday evening followed by three aftershocks within oneandahalf hours leaving at least two people injured and damaging scores of houses in AssamThe first jolt of 58 magnitude was recorded at 441 pm the second tremor of 31 magnitude was felt at 458 pm followed by another tremor of 29 magnitude at 521 pm The fourth jolt was of 27 magnitude and recorded at 611 pm they saidThe epicentre of the third quake was Sonitpur in Assam while the remaining three struck neighbouring Udalguri district they addedThe Assam State Disaster Management ASDMA said two girls were injured in Udalguri due to the collapse of the ceiling of a hostel and several houses were damaged in different parts of the stateThe roof of a house collapsed in the Amguri area of the district Two houses and a store were partially damaged in Sonitpur while minor wall cracks appeared on a few houses in Biswanath district it saidSeveral houses were also damaged in Darrang and Nalbari districts In the Hojai district cracks developed on a building it saidPrime Minister Narendra Modi who wound up a twoday trip to the region and reached Kolkata in the evening spoke to Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and enquired about the earthquakeHe assured all support from the CentreSarma said the situation was under control and disaster management teams were on the ground assessing the extent of the damage caused by the quakesThe Assam government established helplines at 1079 1070 9401044617 and 1077 for the publicPeople of the western parts of Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh also felt the joltsIn Arunachal Pradeshs capital Itanagar people ran out of their houses and shops in panicState Disaster Management Secretary Dani Sulu said no reports of structural damage or casualties have been received so farThe situation is being closely monitored but there is no cause for alarm he saidThe Northeast is in a high seismic zone and earthquakes frequently hit the regionTremors were also experienced in parts of northern West Bengal adjacent to AssamI could feel the earth shaking for a few seconds I rushed out of my house as a precaution said Bikash Dey a Siliguri residentSome people also blew conch shells a superstition believed to mitigate the impacts of a quakeThere was no report of any fatality or damage to structures due to the earthquake in any part of the state an official saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever