Eight medium intensity quakes hit Mizoram, Andaman and Nicobar islands

Five medium-intensity earthquakes hit the Andaman and Nicobar islands, while three quakes rocked the northeastern state of Mizoram on Friday, the National Centre for Seismology (NCS) said.

Four of the quakes of over 4.5 magnitude occurred within a span of nearly five hours.

According to the NCS, an earthquake of 4.8 magnitude occurred at 10.31 am and the epicentre was 250-km east of Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar islands. The depth of the earthquake was 10 km, it said.

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Another quake of 5.1 magnitude hit the archipelago at 6.59 pm at a depth of 62 kilometres. The third earthquake of 5.6 magnitude occurred at 7.33 pm at a depth of 10 kms, the NCS said.

The fourth quake of 5 magnitude occurred at 8.12 pm at a depth of 185 kms, it said, adding, the fifth quake of magnitude 4.5 hit at 11.15 pm at a depth of 10 kms.
The northeast and the Andaman and Nicobar islands are high-seismic zones.

J L Gautam, Head (Operations) of the NCS, said it is not unusual for the Andaman and Nicobar islands to witness high tremors in a short span of time. Last year, 50 tremors were recorded within 2-3 days, he added.

An earthquake of 4.2 magnitude also occurred in Mizoram's Champhai district at 3.56 pm, the NCS said.

Two more quakes of magnitudes 5.1 and 3.7 occurred at 10.03 pm and 10.35 pm respectively in the northeastern state, it added.