Moderate earthquake jolts northeast India

May 11, 2012 – INDIA – An earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale shook Guwahati in Assam and Shillong in Meghalaya at about 6.15 this evening. Tremors were felt in other parts of the North East and some mild ones even in Kolkata. The quake caused panic as people rushed out of their homes. Although there was no report of any major damage so far, some buildings developed cracks and one concrete wall collapsed at Jyotinagar area of Guwahati under the impact of the quake. The epicenter of the quake is Nagaon in Assam. Some minor cracks have been reported in buildings in Nagaon, but no major damage has been reported yet from Guwahati or Shillong. People in Guwahati, however, rushed out on to the roads when it happened and many said they had not felt such a major quake in a long time. There were reports that tremors were felt in Kohima in Nagaland too. “I was sitting in my room and was working on a laptop. Suddenly I felt the tremors and I immediately got down,” said a resident of Guwahati. In Kolkata, the tremors felt were mild, but some people in high-rise buildings rushed out.  –NDTV