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A strong
earthquake (M6.0-6.9 termed as "strong") struck eastern
Bhutan, on 21 September 2009
at 14:53 BTT (14:23 IST or 02:51 BDST).
The earthquake had a magnitude of Mw=6.1
and caused damage as well as casualties in the Mongar and Trashigang
Dzongkhags in Bhutan. Several aftershocks were felt in the region
including a
Mb=5.2 event on 29 October 2009
and a
Mb=5.5 event on 31 December 2009.
If you felt this earthquake in Bhutan,
India, Bangladesh, please let us know!
The epicentre of this
earthquake was located 6.3 kms NNW of Drametsi, Bhutan,
14.3 kms W of Trashigang, Bhutan,
25 kms ENE of Mongar, Bhutan,
51 kms WSW of Tawang (Arunachal Pradesh), India,
64 kms N of Darrang (Assam), India,
133 kms NNW of Guwahati (Assam), India,
153 kms NNE of Goalpara (Assam), India,
167 kms NW of Nagaon (Assam), India,
204 kms N of Shillong (Meghalaya), India,
282 kms NE of Rangpur, Bangladesh,
420 kms NNE of Dhaka, Bangladesh,
609 kms NNE of Kolkata (West Bengal), India.
At least 11 people were killed and as many as 18 injured by
earthquake in Mongar and Trashigang Dzongkhags.
Eight deaths directly due to the earthquake in Narang, Udzorong
and Yangneer. At least four members of a road works crew were
killed by a rock fall in Samdrup Jongkar Dzong on the Samdrup
Jongkar-Trashigang Road while they attempted to clear a road
blocked by the an earlier rock fall triggered by earthquake.
In Bhutan, as many as 1,100 houses were damaged with 405 in
Trashigang dzongkhag alone.
Buildings collapsed at Gyalposhing, Monggar, Narang and Yangneer in eastern Bhutan.
Buildings also developed minor cracks at Phuentsholing.
The Lhuntse Singye and Trashigang Dzongs were badly cracked while
in Yangyner parts of the Ishemey Lhakhang collapsed. Damage was
also reported from Chukka, Lhuntse, Trashiyangtse and Wangdue
Phodrang Dzongkhags. This earthquake was also felt strongly in Thimphu,
sending people running outdoors but without doing any material
damage. Minor damage was also reported from Alipurduar, Cooch
Behar, Guwahati and Jalpaiguri in adjacent parts of India. Minor
damage was also reported from Lhozhag and Tsona in Shannan County
in Xizang along the border with Bhutan where as many houses were
damaged.
In adjoining parts of India, tremors were severely felt in Assam
including the capital Guwahati where several buildings, including
a building in the Fancy Bazaar area, developed minor cracks. A
seven storied building leaned to one side nearly touching the
neighbouring block due to differential settlement in the city's
Bangagarh area. Tremors were felt strongly in much of Assam including
at Baksa, Chirang, Kamrup, Kokrajhar, Nalbari, Udalguri and to a
much lighter extent at Dhubri, Dibrugarh and Jorhat. Tremors were felt throughout
north-east and eastern India including Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Sikkim. In Meghalaya, it was felt at Shillong while
in Arunachal Pradesh it was felt at Itanagar and Tawang. In West Bengal, there
was panic in Cooch Behar while minor damage was reported from Alipurduar, Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri. Tremors were also felt at
Bamangola, Belurghat, Darjeeling, Gajal, Jalpaiguri, Habibpur,
Harishchandrapur, Ingraj Bazaar, Kaliachak, Kalimpong, Kurseong, Malda,
Ratua, Shiliguri, Uttar Dinajpur, Vaishnavnagar and even as far as Kolkata
where some high-rise buildings were evacuated in the Rajarhat and
Salt Lake City areas. In Bihar, it was felt at Araria, Bahadurganj, Katihar, Kishanganj,
Madhepura, Patna, Saharsa and Thakurganj. In Bangladesh, the earthquake
was felt in most districts including Dhaka, Faridpur, Netrakona,
Nilphamari, Rangpur, Sherpur, Sirajganj, Sunamganj and Sylhet as
well as in the cities of Chittagong,
Dhaka and Sylhet. In Dhaka, its effects were mainly experienced by
the occupants of tall buildings. Tremors were also felt to the
north at Lhasa in Xizang, China as well as to the west in eastern
Nepal.
This
is the strongest earthquake in eastern Bhutan since a
Mw=5.8 earthquake in the immediate region
near Kangpar in 2006. It is also the strongest in the
Bhutan-Sikkim Himalayas since 1980 and one of the deadliest
earthquakes in the kingdom's history. |
