Assam shaken by 5.1 quake before dawn, tremors felt across Northeast

An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale jolted the central part of Assam early Monday morning, officials said, triggering brief panic but causing no reported casualties or damage.

According to an official bulletin, there was no immediate report of injury to anyone or damage to property.

A report from the National Centre for Seismology said the quake was recorded at 4.17 am in Morigaon district on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra, at a depth of 50 km. The epicentre was located at latitude 26.37 N and longitude 92.29 E in central Assam.

The tremor was felt across several districts, including Kamrup Metropolitan, Nagaon, East Karbi Anglong, West Karbi Anglong, Hojai, Dima Hasao, Golaghat, Jorhat, Sivasagar, Charaideo, Cachar, Karimganj, Hailakandi, Dhubri, South Salmara-Mankachar and Goalpara.

Districts on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra — Darrang, Tamulpur, Sonitpur, Kamrup, Biswanath, Udalguri, Nalbari, Bajali, Barpeta, Baksa, Chirang, Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon and Lakhimpur — also reported feeling the jolt.

The earthquake was felt beyond Assam as well, with tremors reported from parts of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and West Bengal. Central-eastern Bhutan, parts of China and Bangladesh were also shaken, the report said.

The early morning tremor forced many residents to rush out of their homes to open areas.

The northeastern region lies in a high seismic zone, making it prone to earthquakes.