Summary:
Due to this motion of tectonic plates, stress builds up, and the earthquakes are triggered to release tension.
While almost all Himalayan states are at constant risk, the maximum risk areas for high-intensity earthquakes are classified as Zone-V in India, which includes entire northeastern India.
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The turbulence across the Himalayan fault line continued to create panic as an earthquake of magnitude 5.4 on the Richter scale hit the eastern side of the mountain range.
The epicenter has been traced to the Sikkim-Bhutan border—in the Samtse district of Bhutan—around 33 km from the district headquarters.
The epicenter is less than 50 km from Sikkim’s capital Gangtok.
As per the National Centre for Seismology, the magnitude of the quake was 5.4, recorded at a depth of 10 km.
The United States Geological Survey, however, reports a magnitude of 5.0 at a depth of 18.7 km.
The timing of the quake was noted to be around 8.15 pm and the tremors were felt across Sikkim, Assam, Bihar, and north Bengal.
The second hit of the earthquake in the region within 12 hours, an earthquake of 4.1 magnitudes hit north Bengal on Tuesday morning, data from the National Center for Seismology showed.
The earthquake, occurred around 7 am, with the epicenter 64 km east of Siliguri.
The depth was 10 km.