10 killed as earthquake rocks Bhutan, Northeast

Guwahati/Thimpu: A high magnitude earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale on Monday killed at least 10 people in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan and left dozens more injured, while several buildings developed cracks in India's Northeastern state of Assam.

Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BSS), the national broadcaster, quoted Bhutanese government officials and witnesses as confirming 10 deaths.

"Of the 10 deaths, three were of Indian origin who were engaged in road widening work. They died after being hit by falling boulders," the BSS report said.

The bodies of the three Indians killed, all from Assam, were handed over to their relatives in the border town of Darranga in Assam late on Monday.

"Five people were killed in Mongar and two deaths were reported from Trashigang in eastern Bhutan," U Tenzing, the director of Bhutan's disaster management department, said, adding, "We are trying to get more information from the affected places."

The casualties were reported when their houses collapsed or some of them were hit by falling debris.

"Most of the mud and stone houses with tin roofs caved in with several schools, monasteries and houses damaged in the earthquake," another senior Bhutanese police official said requesting not to be named.

Police and civil rescue teams have since fanned out to the quake hit eastern districts of Mongar and Trashigang to look for people who could be trapped or injured.

"There was extensive damage to monasteries, schools, houses and other structures in eastern Bhutan," D Dhendup, a Bhutanese official, said.

Meanwhile, Bhutan's Home Minister Lyonpo Minjur Dorji urged people not to panic.

"We are coordinating with the district authorities to help those affected," the home minister told IANS.

"We saw several houses damaged and cracks developing," Pema Dorji, a former governor of Bhutan, said.

The tremors were also felt in parts of Assam, other Northeastern states of India, and West Bengal at 2.24 pm. No casualties were reported.

The epicentre was plotted in Munggar in Bhutan. Munggar, about 500 km from Thimpu, is located along the India-Bhutan border, 125 km Northwest of Guwahati.

The temblor led to cracks in apartments and concrete structures in Assam's main cty of Guwahati.

"At least five to six apartments in Guwahati developed visible cracks, while two buildings showed signs of slanting due to the impact of the quake," an Assam government official said.

This is the fifth earthquake to have rocked India's Northeast since August 11 with Monday's being the strongest.

"The top floor where we stay was literally rocking, swaying sideways with people forced to run out of their homes. The tremor lasted for about 20 to 25 seconds at least," said Arun Hazarika, a resident of Guwahati staying in a five storied apartment.

The seven Northeastern states - Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur - are considered by seismologists as the sixth major earthquake prone belt in the world. The region experienced one of the worst earthquakes, measuring 8.7 on the Richter Scale, in 1897 that claimed the lives of over 1,600 people.