Almost 2000 left homeless by quake in India’s northeast

No casualties were reported on the neighboring Myanmar, which has a low population count.

At least eight people were killed and scores injured when a 6.7-magnitude quake struck north-east India early yesterday morning, sending panicked residents fleeing into the streets even hundreds of kilometres away in Bangladesh.

The strong earth tremor is reported to have cracked walls while a recently completed six-storey building in Imphal collapsed.

The Meteorological Department of India noted the quake hitting the area at 4:35 a.m.at “moderate intensity”, while the U.S. Geological Survey added that the natural disaster struck 18 miles west of Imphal, with a depth of 34 miles.

“People are shocked after the quake and they have took shelter outside of their houses”, an official of Manipur government said.

They were admitted to local hospitals.

“The epicentre was near river Barak, so there was little damage”, said Additional Deputy Commissioner Joseph Paulin.

Mr Anurag Gupta of India’s National Disaster Management Authority said: “Five people are confirmed dead and 33 have been injured in (Manipur’s capital) Imphal”. “Tremors were also felt in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nepal”.

Union Home minister Rajnath Singh, who staying in Guwahati for his two-day visit to Assam said that, the central government will provide all support to the Manipur and Assam government for rescue operation.

Natural disaster in Manipur: Of the six deaths in Manipur, three were killed in Imphal West district, one at Jiribam in Imphal East district and two in Senapati districts, officilas said. He said, “I am trying to contact people and am monitoring the situation. 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.