GUWAHATI, Sept 19 � People ran helter skelter out of panic when the 6.8-magnitude quake rocked the city yesterday. Though it was a holiday because of the Biswakarma Puja, there was some rush of people on the streets and puja pandals.
The jolt created panic among the people and many of them were eager to move to safer locations. Many people who were indoors also rushed out of their houses to the open places.
Telecommunication network, particularly the mobile phone network, failed for more than half-an-hour in the city. In some city localities, there was power failure too, though for a short period.
In the city, under the impact of the tremor, a multi-storey building opposite the Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) bus stand in the Machkhowa area of the city, tilted by several inches and rested against its adjacent building.
According to Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) sources, reports of minor cracks developing in four apartment buildings of the city have been received. Two of these apartments � Sagar and Kaziranga are located in the Pandu area of the city, while one of the apartments � Mandakini Apartment � is located in Beltola area and the other one � Shanti Apartment � is located in the Namghar Path area of Panjabari.
The Deputy Commissioner of Kamrup (Metro) is sending officers to assess the damage caused by the tremor to the above apartments, ASDMA sources said.
Meanwhile, the lift of the Ganeshguri Century Apartment collapsed under the impact of the earthquake.
ASDMA sources said that a boy about seven years of age received minor injuries at Pathshala in Barpeta district when he fell while trying to run out of his house during the earthquake. A man fainted at Baghbor in Barpeta district and a 17-year-old girl also lost consciousness at Chaygoan in Kamrup district.
An aftershock of almost similar intensity followed the quake after a gap of only a few seconds, creating more panic among the people.
It needs mention here that on September 21, 2009 an earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale had rocked the NE region. The epicentre of this tremor was in Bhutan. In 1988, on August 6, a tremor of 6.8 on the Richter scale had also rocked the NE region. Its epicentre was on the Indo-Burma border. On May 29, 1994, an earthquake of 6.6 on the Richter scale had rocked the NE region, the epicentre of which was located in the Indo-Burma border region.
Sources in the Shillong-based Central Seismological Observatory (CSO) told this newspaper that the epicentre of Sunday�s earthquake was at latitude 27.7 degree North and 88.2 degree East on the Sikkim-Nepal border.
The depth of the tremor was shallow � at 10 km below the surface of the earth, said the (CSO) sources.
However, the CSO has not recorded the magnitude of the aftershock, nor it has kept record of the duration of the impact of the tremor. For, the duration of the impact of the tremors vary from place to place, said the CSO sources.
But the duration of the impact of the shake was comparatively longer, said the people here.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has stated in its website that there were two other tremors recorded in the Sikkim �Nepal border region and Bhutan region at 6-41 pm and 12.30 am respectively.
While the first of them measured 5.3 on the Richter scale, the second one measured 5.2 on the Richter scale. The depth of both the tremors was recorded to be 5 km below the surface of the earth, said the IMD in its website.
