Final report on damages expected to be ready today

Quake: The 6.7 magnitude earthquake that struck northeast state of Imphal, India yesterday around 5.07am caused minor damages to 28 houses in 10 gewogs of Pemagatshel, Samdrupjongkhar and Trashigang.

The houses, according to dzongkhag officials, developed cracks on the wall while portion of the walls of some houses were brought down. No casualty was reported in any of the dzongkhags.

Of the total houses, the highest (18) were located in three gewogs of Trashigang followed by 17 houses in four gewogs of Pemagatshel and three houses in three gewogs of Samdrupjongkhar.

Dzongkhag officials said all the damaged houses are insured and that the final report would be compiled today.

Most people ran outside screaming when they felt the tremor. The tremor that lasted for a few seconds stopped even before some of them could step out of their homes. There were also those who didn’t feel the tremor.

Dagana also reported damages to a few houses. According to dzongkhag officials, a house in Goshi gewog and three houses in Tashiding gewog suffered minor cracks on the walls.

The US geological survey states that the earthquake struck west of Imphal, the capital city of Manipur, of about 270,000 people.

Manipur is about 700km from Samdrupjongkhar, which is about 14 hours drive via Guwahati, Assam that shares the nearest border with Bhutan.

According to the Indian media, at least six people were killed and about 40 injured in Manipur when the earthquake struck. Besides Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar’s city of Yangon also felt strong tremor. Bangladesh reported three deaths while a few are reported injured.

Yangchen C Rinzin

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