One killed, 30 injured in Manipur quake

At least one person was killed and 30 injured as a powerful earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter Scale rocked Manipur and other north-eastern states early Monday.

Initial reports indicate that one young girl was killed and 30 were injured due to the earthquake, Inspector General of Police Clay Khongsai told IANS.

"Public and private properties have been damaged. The district administration is on the job to rescue trapped persons," he said.

Khongsai said they were yet to receive any report from Tamenglong district.

A six storey building was partially destroyed in Imphal and famous women's market in the town was also damaged.

Works minister E. Ratan and other officials assessed the damage of the buildings and market complex in the town.

The walls of some private hospitals also cracked. Panic stricken patients fled from the hospitals.

Reports of damages in buildings have been received from nearby localities in and around Imphal.

According to the regional seismological centre in Meghalaya, an earthquake of moderate intensity rocked India's northeastern states and adjoining Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan Monday morning.

The quake occurred at 4.35 a.m. and had its epicentre in Manipur's Tamenglong district. It was felt in parts of Manipur, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram and Tripura, said an official of the regional seismological centre in Meghalaya.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a telephonic conversation with Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh discussed the post-earthquake situation in the state and other after areas, he said in a tweet.

Modi also spoke to Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who is in Assam, and asked him to oversee the situation ruisen due to the quake.

India's northeast is considered the sixth major earthquake-prone belt in the world.

The northeast has seen some of the biggest quakes in history. In 1897, the Shillong-epicentred quake measured 8.2 on the Richter scale.

In 1950, an earthquake in Assam measuring 8.7 on the Richter Scale forced the mighty Brahmaputra river to change its course. In September 2011, Sikkim underwent heavy damage after a quake hit the state.