Earthquake near the India / Myanmar border (Manipur and Nagaland provinces) – NO reports of damage or injuries

Last update: July 15, 2012 at 12:11 pm by By

Earthquake overview : A dangerous extremely shallow strong earthquake occurred at 01:25 AM approx. 20 km from the Myanmar border in India. What looks like a moderate earthquake becomes dangerous because of the shallow depth of the hypocenter (6,5 km) reported by USGS.
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Update 15/07 – 12:02 UTC :
Hard to find any news of this earthquake in the Indian local press, which is mostly very good news. Local seismological agency in Shillong has reported that the earthquake had a Magnitude of 5,4, no depth specified.
The earthquake shaking lasted for about 20 seconds and was widely felt in Nagaland and Manipur areas. Epicenter was located in Kohima according to the local authorities. Kohima is the capital of the Nagaland province.
Kohima is located at approx. 50 km from the epicenter set by USGS.
The local police did NOT receive reports of damage and/or injuries. We welcome this happy end.
The way that this earthquake was reported by international agencies is once more a proof that earthquake reporting cannot be limited to a few earthquake data.

Update : Phek, the village at 24 km from the epicenter has a population of 12863 (last census). One of the greatest dangers in the area will be the potential for landslides. Depending on the weather and the deforestation, which is common in India, landslides can easily occur. The city of Kohima has endured a MMI V , moderate shaking and counts 92000 people (we do not think however that major damage has occurred in this city). We have almost no data from the Myanmar side of the border, but we know that the area is very sparsely populated.

Update : Due to the darkness and the kind of terrain (very hilly forested area) it will take several hours before we expect to hear more news.

Update : 66000 people are living in the area which earthquake-report.com calls at risk, mainly because of the building methods in the area (a lot of brick and adobe houses) and because of the occurrence of the shaking in the middle of the night. A lot of the houses are also in wood and bamboo and can resist strong shaking.

Update : Based on the USGS data (M5,6 @ 6,5 km depth), 19000 people will have experienced a MMI VII very strong shaking. 91000 people a strong shaking.

Update : If the CENC and USGS data are right (even with the lower CENC Magnitude), we call an area of 20 km around the epicenter as highly vulnerable for damage and injuries.

Update : We did hesitate to start up an in-depth earthquake report because of the confusing data. A 6 km deep earthquake (USGS and CENC) and 40 to 45 km (GFZ and EMSC) can be related to “very dangerous” to “harmless)

This is what we wrote in our daily (major) earthquake overview : What looks like a moderate earthquake becomes dangerous because of the shallow depth of the hypocenter (6,5 km) reported by USGS. This depth is preliminary and has been contradicted by GFZ and EMSC who are stating an intermediate depth of 45 and 60 km. We have set the color of this earthquake to Orange because of this uncertainty. It would be green by 60 km and red by 6,5 km. The coming hours will tell us more about this! Indian seismologic agency has no live Internet data.
CENC, The Chinese seismological agency who is very reliable in this area reports a M5,3 at a depth of 6 km. If CENC data are correct, we will have to maintain the orange color of moderately dangerous.

Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : M 5,6 (USGS), M5,5 (EMSC and GFZ) and M5,3 (CENC)
UTC Time : Saturday, July 14, 2012 at 19:55:12 UTC
Local time at epicenter : Sunday, July 15, 2012 at 01:25:12 AM at epicenter
Depth (Hypocenter) :
Geo-location(s) :
24 km (14 miles) S of Phek, India
43 km (26 miles) ESE of Kohima, India
57 km (35 miles) S of Zunheboto, India

Links to important maps
USGS Did You Feel It Map
Google satellite map showing the epicenter and the surrounding area
Historic earthquakes map
Seismic hazard map
Shaking map
Scientific parameters
Human impact map

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SRC Location UTC Date/time M D INFO
EMSC Myanmar-india Border Region Jul 14 19:55 5.5 10 MAP I Felt It
  • Dimapur (85 km from epicenter) - Since it is dark past midnight the real aftermath of the quake can only be estimated in the morning. But one thing is certain that it was strong enough to create damage. (via EMSC)
  • Imphal - Moderate shaking reported
  • Guwahati, India - around 01:30 on 1 July, 2012
  • Sivasagar - I was asleep when the earthquake happened. It woke me up. I was on the first floor and I felt the building shaking. I quickly went downstairs and moved to the open space. The experience was really very frightening!
  • NRL, Golaghat - I was doing my night shift in Numaligarh Refinery when I felt the bottle of water shake unusually followed by rattling sound of window panes...all of us on duty moved out of our office immediately with difficulty due to the continuous shaking.
    		•
    GEOFON Myanmar-india Border Region Jul 14 19:55 5.5 45 MAP I Felt It
    USGS Myanmar-india Border Region Jul 14 19:55 5.6 6 MAP I Felt It
    EMSC Mid-indian Ridge Jul 14 19:18 4.6 40 MAP I Felt It
    GEOFON Mid Indian Ridge Jul 14 19:18 4.7 10 MAP I Felt It
    GEOFON Western Indian Antarctic Ridge Jul 14 14:22 5.6 10 MAP I Felt It
    USGS Western Indian-antarctic Ridge Jul 14 14:22 5.0 10 MAP I Felt It
    EMSC Western Indian-antarctic Ridge Jul 14 14:22 4.8 60 MAP I Felt It

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    City/Village where you felt the earthquake
    MMI II (Very weak shaking) ?
    People :
    Felt by persons at rest, on upper floors or favorably placed.
    MMI III (Weak shaking) ?
    People :
    Felt indoors; hanging objects may swing, vibration similar to passing of light trucks, duration may be estimated, may not be recognized as an earthquake.
    MMI IV (Light shaking) ?
    People :
    Generally noticed indoors but not outside. Light sleepers may be awakened. Vibration may be likened to the passing of heavy traffic, or to the jolt of a heavy object falling or striking the building.
    Fittings :
    Doors and windows rattle. Glassware and crockery rattle. Liquids in open vessels may be slightly disturbed. Standing motorcars may rock.
    Structures :
    Walls and frames of buildings, and partitions and suspended ceilings in commercial buildings, may be heard to creak.
    MMI V (Moderate shaking) ?
    People :
    Generally felt outside, and by almost everyone indoors. Most sleepers awakened. A few people alarmed.
    Fittings :
    Small unstable objects are displaced or upset. Some glassware and crockery may be broken. Hanging pictures knock against the wall. Open doors may swing. Cupboard doors secured by magnetic catches may open. Pendulum clocks stop, start, or change rate.
    Structures :
    Some large display windows cracked. A few earthenware toilet fixtures cracked.
    MMI VI (Strong shaking) ?
    People Felt by all. People and animals alarmed. Many run outside. Difficulty experienced in walking steadily.
    Fittings :
    Objects fall from shelves. Pictures fall from walls. Some furniture moved on smooth floors, some unsecured free-standing fireplaces moved. Glassware and crockery broken. Very unstable furniture overturned. Small church and school bells ring. Appliances move on bench or table tops. Filing cabinets or "easy glide" drawers may open (or shut).
    Structures :
    Slight damage to buildings with low standard. Some stucco or cement plaster falls. Large display windows broken. Damage to a few weak domestic chimneys, some may fall.
    Environment :
    Trees and bushes shake, or are heard to rustle. Loose material may be dislodged from sloping ground, e.g. existing slides, talus slopes, shingle slides.
    MMI VII (Very strong shaking) ?
    People
    General alarm. Difficulty experienced in standing. Noticed by motorcar drivers who may stop.
    Fittings :
    Large bells ring. Furniture moves on smooth floors, may move on carpeted floors. Substantial damage to fragile contents of buildings.
    Structures :
    Unreinforced stone and brick walls cracked. Low standard buildings cracked with some minor masonry falls. A few instances of damage to buildings of ordinary workmanship. Unbraced parapets, unbraced brick gables, and architectural ornaments fall. Roofing tiles, especially ridge tiles may be dislodged. Many unreinforced domestic chimneys damaged, often falling from roof-line. Water tanks Type I burst. A few instances of damage to brick veneers and plaster or cement-based linings. Unrestrained water cylinders (hot-water cylinders) may move and leak. Some common windows cracked. Suspended ceilings damaged.
    Environment :
    Water made turbid by stirred up mud. Small slides such as falls of sand and gravel banks, and small rock-falls from steep slopes and cuttings. Instances of settlement of unconsolidated or wet, or weak soils. Some fine cracks appear in sloping ground. A few instances of liquefaction (i.e. small water and sand ejections).
    MMI VIII (Severe shaking) ?
    People Alarm may approach panic. Steering of motorcars greatly affected. Structures : Low standard buildings heavily damaged, some collapse. ordinary workmanship buildings damaged, some with partial collapse. Reinforced masonry or concrete buildings damaged in some cases. A few instances of damage to buildings and bridges designed and built to resist earthquakes. Monuments and pre-1976 elevated tanks and factory stacks twisted or brought down. Some pre-1965 infill masonry panels damaged. A few post-1980 brick veneers damaged. Decayed timber piles of houses damaged. Houses not secured to foundations may move. Most unreinforced domestic chimneys damaged, some below roof-line, many brought down. Environment : Cracks appear on steep slopes and in wet ground. Small to moderate slides in roadside cuttings and unsupported excavations. Small water and sand ejections and localized lateral spreading adjacent to streams, canals, lakes, etc.
    MMI IX (Violent shaking) ?
    Structures Many low standard buildings destroyed. Ordinary workmanship buildings heavily damaged, some collapse. Reinforced masonry or concrete buildings damaged, some with partial collapse. Buildings and bridges designed and built to resist earthquakes damaged in some cases, some with flexible frames seriously damaged. Damage or permanent distortion to some buildings and bridges, designed and built to normal use standards. Houses not secured to foundations shifted off. Brick veneers fall and expose frames. Environment : Cracking of ground conspicuous. Landsliding general on steep slopes. Liquefaction effects intensified and more widespread, with large lateral spreading and flow sliding adjacent to streams, canals, lakes, etc.
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