A house in Lhuentse with a partially collapsed wall

Kuensel reporters 

The magnitude 6.4 earthquake that struck Assam, India yesterday morning left a trail of destruction mostly in eastern dzongkhags.

An official from the disaster management department said that it would take at least a week to complete compiling reports on the damage in the dzongkhags.

“We have received nothing so far,” he said.

Preliminary reports from the dzongkhags show that the earthquake has damaged religious monuments, school buildings, houses, and injured a few people.

Trashigang and Trashiyangtse, the two dzongkhags closer to the epicentre of the earthquake, escaped with minor damages according to officials.

More than 100 houses and temples across eight gewogs in Trashigang reported minor cracks on the walls. The houses, according to gewog leaders, developed cracks on the wall while portions of walls of some houses fell apart.

Sakten Gup Sangay Dorji said, in his gewog about 70 houses had minor cracks. “We found five houses partially damaged and have asked RICBL officials for assessment.”

A 43-year-old woman and a child were referred to Trashigang hospital after parts of a traditional house fell and hit them in Sakteng. They were hit on the head and legs.

A doctor at Trashigang hospital said that the woman was referred to the regional referral hospital in Mongar. “We found a minor cut on their heads. Both the patients are clinically stable.”

The child remains under observation in Trashigang.

In Trashiyangtse, the highest number of structures (41) with damages were in Jamkhar gewog followed by 25 houses in Yallang and 16 houses in Khamdang gewogs. Almost all the gewogs reported minor damages.

No casualties were reported in Trashiyangtse. Gewog officials are still assessing the damages.

Lhuendrup Rinchentse Dzong in Lhuentse suffered major cracks on walls both inside and outside the Kuenrey and offices. A statue of goddess Tsheringma and her riding lion inside the Kuenrey were broken due to the tremor. One of the arms of a newly-built Zhabdrung statue was also partially broken.

Dungkar Nagtshang also developed minor cracks on the walls and several houses in all the eight gewogs in the dzongkhag suffered minor to major damages. Lhuentse hospital also developed cracks on the walls.

In Mongar, 21 structures were reportedly damaged as of yesterday evening.

While most of them suffered minor damages a few structures were severely damaged.

A house in Jurmey gewog suffered cracks from the ground to the roof. The affected family were moved into a temporary shelter. Five houses sustained minor cracks in Kengkhar gewog.

Similarly, two houses in Chaskhar gewog, four houses and a temple in Chali gewog, two houses and a temple in Drepong gewog, two government structures and two lhakhangs in Tsamang gewog reported minor cracks.

In Dramitse, gewog forestry office and Bagging Primary School reported minor cracks. In Narang gewog the RNR office also suffered major cracks.

Five houses in Khebisa gewog, Dagana reported cracks on walls. A pillar of the under-construction lhakhang in the gewog was damaged. In Thasa chiwog under Lajab gewog, walls of the Lam’s residence and a house developed minor cracks.

Larjab Gup, Dhan Bdr Gurung, said that the gewog administration would carry out maintenance of the cracked walls of Lam’s residence. Goshi gewog also reported minor damages.

Except for a few minor cracks on Shekadra lhakhang, no major damages were reported from Haa as of yesterday. According to dzongkhag disaster focal person, Tendrel Zangmo, the dzongkhag was yet to complete collecting reports as remote villages especially in two southern gewogs were far and couldn’t be connected due to poor network.

The earthquake also caused cracks on the walls of Samcholing dzong, in Trongsa. The 62 monks residing in the dzong were relocated. There were no reports of damages in the rest of the gewogs in the dzongkhag.

In Wangdue, walls of more than 60 houses, including lhakhangs and schools, developed cracks in nine gewogs. Dzongkhag officials were still gathering information from the gewogs as of last night. However, there was no report of any casualties. 

The earthquake also left minor cracks on the wall and statues inside Jigmecholing Dratshang in Sarpang. The Sarpang Dzongkhag Court building also suffered minor cracks on the wall, door frames, and ceilings.

Chuzangang Lhakhang in Umling Drungkhag reported minor cracks on the wall close to the roof. The dzongkhag disaster officials were compiling reports as of last night.  

In Samdrupjongkhar, the earthquake caused cracks on the walls of 43 houses including two lhakhangs. Assessments of the damages were still ongoing as of last night.