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A moderate
earthquake (M5.0-5.9 termed as "moderate") occurred
in eastern Bhutan on 31 December 2009
at 15:57 PM local time in Bhutan.
It had a magnitude of Mb=5.5 and caused some additional minor damage in
the region struck by a
Mw=6.1 earthquake in September
and another
Mb=5.2 event in October.
The earthquake was centred
5.4 kms NW of Drametse, Bhutan,
15.6 kms W of Tashigang, Bhutan,
23 kms ENE of Mongar, Bhutan,
53.3 kms WSW of Tawang (Arunachal Pradesh), India,
62 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.
If you felt this earthquake,
please take the time to fill out
a felt report questionnaire.
Two people were injured after being struck by falling objects in
Drametse; a child at Waichur village in Drametse gewog after being
struck by a falling rock that was holding down roof shingles and an 18-year old woman
who was injured by a falling builder at Udzorong.
As many as 700 buildings were damaged
in Trashigang Dzong in this earthquake, many of which were damaged in the earthquakes in September and
October. In Drametse, two houses that were damaged in September and
October, collapsed partially. The earthquake was felt strongly and
caused damage in Kanglung gewog, where it was much more severe
when compared to the two previous earthquakes. Villagers ran
outdoors and remained in the open for several hours in spite of
the cold
weather and rain for fear of aftershocks. 3 houses partially
collapsed and 151 houses were damaged
at Kanglung, 61 of which were damaged in the previous earthquakes. In Bartsham gewog,
242 houses were damaged, including 149 damaged by the previous two
earthquakes sustained further damage. 90 houses were damaged in Lumang gewog and two
developed severe cracks in Shongphu gewog. 4 houses collapsed in
the Sherimuhung area. 6 houses were damaged n Radhi gewog. In
Yangneer gewog, at least 100 houses were 'affected' while at
Khaling, 85 houses were damaged, Damage was also
reported from Thrimshing where, just as in Kanglung, people
remained outdoors despite bad weather. A school was also damaged
at Udzorong in Trashigang. This earthquake was felt
strongly in Pemagatsel and Trashiyangtse gewogs. It was also felt
in the capital, Thimphu.
Tremors were also felt in adjoining parts of India in the states
of Assam and Meghalaya. In Guwahati, Assam, it was felt for close
to 15-seconds in high-rise buildings causing some panic.
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References
01)
National
Earthquake Information Centre (NEIC), Golden, USA.
02)
Geophysical Survey of
the Russian Academy of Sciences (GSR),
Obninsk, Russia.
03)
Macroseismic information has been compiled by
the ASC from reports by local media and local NGO personnel.
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