Three Earthquakes Jolt Arunachal, Northeast

Our Correspondent

Itanagar: Three earthquakes of 5.6, 3.8 and 4.9 magnitude hit Arunachal Pradesh on Friday within minutes of each other, according to the MET Department. No loss of life or damage to property has been reported so far due to the quakes, each of which lasted for a few seconds, officials said.

The first quake of 5.6-magnitude occurred at 2.52 pm at a depth of 10 km in East Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh, the tremors of which were felt in Itanagar, Guwahati, other parts of Assam and Dimapur in Nagaland, the Meteorological (MET) Department website said.

The second one of 3.8-magnitude was recorded at 3.04 pm, also at the depth of 10 km at another site in East Kameng. The third 4.9-magnitude quake was recorded at 3.21 pm. It had its epicenter at a depth of 95 km in Kurung Kumey district of Arunachal, the website stated. According to seismologists, the northeastern region comes under Zone 5 on the seismic map, making the States susceptible to earthquakes.

Earthquakes and volcanic activity

Earthquakes often occur in volcanic regions and are caused there, both by tectonic faults and the movement of magma in volcanoes. Such earthquakes can serve as an early warning of volcanic eruptions, as during the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. Earthquake swarms can serve as markers for the location of the flowinga magma throughout the volcanoes. These swarms can be recorded by seismometers and tiltmeters (a device that measures ground slope) and used as sensors to predict imminent or upcoming eruptions.

Also Read: Two Earthquakes measuring 5.6 & 3.8 on the Richter scale jolts Northeast on Friday