An earthquake measuring 6.7 magnitude hit northeast India near its border with Myanmar and Bangladesh early Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) confirmed. At least eight people were killed and 100 injured by falling debris in Imphal and elsewhere in Manipur state, police said. The quake struck at 4:35 a.m. local time (6:05 p.m. ET on Sunday), about 20 miles northwest of Imphal, the capital of Manipur.
Media reports said five people were killed by the earthquake in neighboring Bangladesh, but there was no immediate confirmation from authorities. Strong tremors were felt across the region, the BBC reported. Witness accounts reported a quake that was unlike anything they had felt before, NBC News reported, with residents awakened by shouting relatives and an intense shaking that lasted from 35 seconds to two minutes.
Bob Swaggerty, who felt the quake in Dimapur, about 125 miles north of Imphal, told USA TODAY that it lasted about 45 seconds. "We felt the Nepal earthquake last year, this was the strongest I have ever felt," he said. Swaggerty and his family were awakened after feeling and hearing the quake. "I ran out to our balcony where it was shaking so violently I was just waiting for it to come down," he said. "Many screams in the distance."
