Shallow 5.6 quake hits India-Myanmar border region

NEW DELHI – A shallow 5.6-magnitude quake jolted the India-Myanmar border region early Sunday, seismologists said, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake struck at a depth of one kilometre at about 1.30 am (2000 GMT), with its epicentre about 45 kilometres (28 miles) southeast of Kohima, the capital of Nagaland in India’s northeast.

India’s seven northeastern states, joined to the rest of the country by a narrow sliver of land, are located in an area of frequent seismic activity.

In September last year, a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck the border of India’s northeastern state of Sikkim and Nepal, killing more than 100 people.

The quake wrought destruction in towns and villages on both sides of the Indian and Nepal border as well as in southern Tibet and the tiny kingdom of Bhutan.