6.7 quake rocks India near Myanmar border – USGS

A powerful earthquake measuring 6.7 in magnitude has hit northwest eastern India, close to the border with Myanmar, the US Geological Survey has reported.

The quake was 55 kilometers (34 miles) deep and centered 29 kilometers west of Imphal, the capital city of the Manipur state. The USGS later revised the quake’s magnitude down from 6.8 to 6.7.

Early reports from India’s ANI agency said that at least two people have been killed and 35 injured in Imphal.

Tremors were also felt in the states of West Bengal and Arunachal Pradesh, as well as in neighboring Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar.

Imphal has a population of over 400,000 people, while the state of Manipur is home to 2,570,390 people.

The city’s residents have been tweeting out photos showing structural damage, including rubble and partially destroyed walls. A lot of the destruction is concentrated in Ima Keithel, a local women’s market.

In Dhaka, the capital of Banghladesh, many on the city’s 7-million residents were awoken at night by what they described as one of the strongest tremors they had ever felt.