video from news on above link
On 9/18/2011 12:40:47 PM UTC (about 18:33h local time) an earthquake of magnitude 6.8 occurred in the moderately populated region of Sikkim in India. The earthquake happened 151km from Thimbu. The nearest populated places are: Lhonak (15km), Dzanak (17km). The closest civilian airport is Taplejung (70km).
Potentially affected critical infrastructure:
- Nuclear plants: [None]
- Hydrodams: [None]
- Airports: Thakurgaon (196km), Jogbani (185km), Biratnagar (169km), Chandragadhi (133km), Baghdogra (121km), Hasimara (166km), Bhojpur (130km), Lamidanda (150km), Tumlingtar (110km), Taplejung (70km), Rumjartar (168km), Ramechap (125km), Paro (129km), Phaplu (158km), Jiri (192km), Lukla (143km)
- Ports: [None]
Based on an automated impact model, this earthquake, which occurred in a region with medium vulnerability to natural disasters, has potentially a high humanitarian impact.
Whether international humanitarian aid is needed must be decided by an expert.
| Event Date Univ. Time: | Sun, 9/18/2011 12:40 UTC |
| European Time of the event: | Sun, 9/18/2011 14:40 CEST (Brussels, Paris, Rome) |
| East America Time of the event: | Sun, 9/18/2011 07:40 EST (New York, Washington) |
| West America Time of the event: | Sun, 9/18/2011 04:40 PST (San Francisco, Los Angeles) |
| East Asia Time of the event: | Sun, 9/18/2011 21:40 JTI (Tokyo) |
| This email report was automatically created by a computer at: 9/18/2011 12:56:15 PM UTC (15 minutes after the event) | |
See the GDACS website for live news coverage (including OCHA Situation Reports), the full earthquake report .
For information on emergency response, please consult the GDACS Virtual OSOCC.
Earthquake Event
Characteristics
- Source: World Data Centre for Seismology, Denver (NEIC) M
- Magnitude: 6.8 M
- Depth: 10 km
- Location (Lat/Long): 27.764 | 88.181
- Country: India
- Province: Sikkim
- Region: Sikkim
- UTC/GMT (Greenwich time): 9/18/2011 12:40:47 PM
- Estimated local solar time: 9/18/2011 6:33:30 PM
Population Density near epicenter (people/km2). Image area: 6x4 decimal degrees (approx. 650x450km2).
Earthquake Impact Details
Potentially affected People
Population Data | ||
|---|---|---|
| Radius (km) | Population | Density (people/km?) |
| 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | 106 | 0 |
| 20 | 2039 | 1 |
| 50 | 81383 | 10 |
| 100 | 1626829 | 51 |
| 200 | 21982110 | 174 |
The population in the area of this earthquake is 10 people/km?.
The earthquake occurred at 18h local time. At this time a day, more people are at work and therefore more vulnerable to collapsing office buildings. During traffic hours, people can be affected by collapsing bridges and other road infrastructure.
Resilience and Vulnerability
Resilience is the capacity of the population to cope with a hazard. Since much of investments in earthquake preparedness and available funds for quick response is related to household income, the GDP per capita can be used as a rough indicator of resilience.
India has a GDP per capita of 450 PPP$ (Parity Purchasing Power Dollar, about 1 Euro) and is therefore part of the low level income countries. Therefore, the earthquake happened in an area of low resilience.
Based on the combination of 9 indicators, ECHO attributes India a medium vulnerability.
| ECHO Intervention Priority Ranking for India | |
|---|---|
| |
| Overall situation | |
| Human Development | |
| Human Poverty | |
| Exposure to Major Disasters | |
| Natural Disasters |  |
| Conflicts |  |
| Humanitarian effects of population movement | |
| Refugees and IDPs | |
| Health of children under five | |
| Undernourishment | |
| Mortality rates | |
| Other vulnerability factors | |
| Access to health care | |
| Prevalence of HIV, TBC and malaria | |
| Gender-specific Human Development | |
| Gini Index | |
| Source ECHO Key: Bad - Medium - Good -  No data | |
Secondary effects
Probability of secondary effects:
- Landslides: The maximum slope in the area of the earthquake is 103.987% and the maximum altitude is 8280 m. Since this is a unknown slope, the risk of earthquake induced landslides is unknown. Note, however, that the slope data is not reliable on a local scale, while landslides depend very much on local topography, soil and meteorological conditions.
- Nuclear power plants: There are no nuclear facilities nearby the epicenter.
- Hydrodams: There are no hydrodam facilities nearby the epicenter.
Disclaimer
While we try everything to ensure accuracy, this information is purely indicative and should not be used for any decision making without alternate sources of information. The JRC is not responsible for any damage or loss resulting from the use of the information presented on this website.
Please refer to the GDACS website for subscribing or unsubscribing from the earthquake alert email or SMS service.
Comments
The quake comes just days after an earthquake of 4.2 magnitude hit Haryana's Sonepat district, sending tremors in New Delhi.
"I have Felt it" Reports –> see below + Let us know how you have felt this earthquake
To read the full story as it happened, we advise our readers to start at the lower part of the page (earthquake data).
We are currently collecting data from this earthquake
UPDATE 14:54 UTC:
Not much has been reported from Bhutan and Nepal, however there is also potential damage in these countries.
UPDATE 14:52 UTC:
An additional update of felt reports from Gangtok and close regions has reduced the MMI to VI indicating slight damage.
This is good news, but still major damage is expected closer to the epicenter.
UPDATE: 14: 50 UTC:
Local authorities confirmed that at least three persons were killed and 7 others injured in the earthquake in the Kathmandu,Nepal.
UPDATE: 14:35 UTC:-
Thanks to everyone for the felt reports and also to Anup for the updates. Please keep them coming. There have been reports of landslides in areas around Sikkim and Darjeeling. Many casualties in this area from historical earthquakes have been due to mudslides and landslides as a result of an earthquake.
Two buildings collapsed in Katihar and Bihar. Roads are blocked and much damage has occurred at all locations in Sikkim. One child is also said to be injured, but we expect many more casualties.
UPDATE: 14:32 UTC:
Earthquake well felt in every part of Nepal. In Solukhumbu district, there have been 7 people injured in Sankhuwasabha, Nepal while people came running out of their home after the tremor was felt. Ranigunj Durbar of Parsa district in Nepal also had problems due to the tremor.
UPDATE: 14:21 UTC:-
The magnitude has been raised to Mw6.9 by GFZ.
UPDATE: 14:13 UTC:-
Aftershocks of 6.1 and 5.3 have occurred. Regional TV station NewsLive reported that 10 to 12 buildings collapsed in Sikkim's state capital of Gangtok. We expect further damage and fatalities close to the epicentre.
UPDATE: 14:11 UTC:-
Reports say BSNL lines in north Bengal are down cutting off communication links in the region. Power has been disrupted in Darjeeling and other northern parts of West Bengal. In Assam's major city Guwahati, people panicked and ran out on the streets after the quake shook their houses. There were initial reports of minor damage.
UPDATE: 14:07 UTC:-
The first damage reports have come in with Indian reports detailing at least a dozen houses have collapsed in Sikkim alone.
Many houses collapsing may have caused many injured. More damage reports are expected soon.
This earthquake has been labelled CATDAT Orange, and is expected to move up to CATDAT Red soon.
UPDATE: 14:00 UTC:-