04 January 2016•Update: 05 January 2016
By Abdul Gani
GUWAHATI, India
At least five people were killed and more than 100 were injured when a 6.7 magnitude earthquake rocked northeast India on Monday, the state-run All India Radio said.
Officials said the quake was one of the strongest in recent years.
“We were in deep sleep, but the tremor was so massive that we just ran out of our houses,” Rajkumar Singh, who lives in Manipur state, told Anadolu Agency. “People waited for several hours in open spaces fearing that aftershocks might follow. We have also seen at least six collapsed buildings in our neighborhood.”
The epicenter of the quake was in Manipur, but tremors were felt across all of India’s eight northeastern states, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Local media in Myanmar said the quake was felt in the country’s western region, but there were no reports of injuries or damage.
India’s Home Minister Rajnath Singh said disaster response teams have been deployed to assist affected residents in Manipur.
- Kyaw Ye Lynn contributed to this report from Yangon, Myanmar.