Sit Rep – Earthquakes- 22 September 2009 1

SITUATION REPORT EARTHQUAKES IN BHUTAN, INDIA AND MYANMAR

On Monday, 21 September 2009, an earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale hit at 02:53:05 pm local time in Mongar in Bhutan. The US Geological Survey initially reported the earthquake as 6.3 mw which was later revised to 6.1 mw. The epicenter of the earthquake was located 177 km from Thimpu , the Bhutanese capital . As of 09:30 pm local time in Bhutan, 12 people had been killed – 5 in Mongar, 4 in Samdrup Jongkhar and 3 in Trashigang. Seven more tremors were felt in Transhigang after the earthquake hit, with the first few tremors occurring every half an hour. In Mongar, three more tremors were felt. Media reports stated that among the 12 dead in Bhutan, 3 were Indians. The earthquake was fe lt in the north-east states of India, including Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Meghalaya, Sikkim and West Bengal. It was also felt in Bangladesh. An aftershock of 4.8 mw was reported in the Uttaranchal region of India at 03:13:50 pm IST. Another earthquake struck in the South Asia region on Tuesday, 22 September measuring 5.6 mw at 02:08:42 am local time in Myanmar. The earthquake was felt in north-east India. No casualties as a result of the earthquakes and aftershocks were reported in India. The earthquake in Bhutan caused damage to buildings and infrastructure in Bhut an and parts of north -east India. North-east India has experienced tremors for the fifth time in one month.

Magnitude 6.1

Date-Time • Monday, September 21, 2009 at 08:53:05 UTC

• Monday, September 21, 2009 at 02:53:05 PM at epicenter

Location 27.351°N, 91.425°E

Depth 10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program

Region BHUTAN

Distances 135 km (85 miles) NNW of Gauhati, Assam, India 180 km (110 miles) E of THIMPHU, Bhutan 610 km (380 miles) NNE of Kolkata (Calcutta), West Bengal, India 1410 km (870 mil es) E of NEW DELHI, Delhi, India

OVERALL SITUATION

MAPS OF EARTHQUAKE EPICENTRES

Sit Rep – Earthquakes- 22 September 2009 2

Magnitude 4.8

Date-Time • Monday, September 21, 2009 at 09:43:50 UTC

• Monday, September 21, 2009 at 03:13:50 PM at epicenter

Location 30.873°N, 79.050°E

Depth 43.6 km (27.1 miles)

Region UTTARANCHAL, INDIA

Distances 115 km (70 miles) ENE of Dehra Dun, Uttaranchal, India 180 km (115 miles) E of Simla, Himachal Pradesh, India 190 km (115 miles) NNW of Haldwani, Uttaranchal, India 305 km (190 miles) NE of NEW DELHI, Delhi, India

Magnitude 5.6

Date-Time • Monday, September 21, 2009 at 19:38:42 UTC

• Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at 02:08:42 AM at epicenter

Location 20.395°N, 94.803°E

Depth 82.3 km (51.1 miles)

Region MYANMAR

Distances 125 km (75 miles) WSW of Meiktila, Myanmar 195 km (120 miles) S of Monywa, Myanmar 425 km (265 miles) NNW of YANGON (Rangoon), Myanmar 710 km (440 miles) ESE of Kolkata (Calcutta), West Bengal, India

Sit Rep – Earthquakes- 22 September 2009 3

As a result of the earthquake in Bhutan, 12 people were reported killed. The fatalities included:

5 in Mongar: 3 women and a 2-year old boy in Narang gewong (administrative block consi sting of a number of villages) . One woman buried under debris at Kurichu.

4 in Samdrup Jongkhar: 3 women and 1 man. All 4 were Dantak labourers. According to media reports, 3 of them were Indian working in the district close to the Indian border, after th e road they were working on collapsed. The reports also state that the bodies were handed over to the Indian authorities in Assam.

3 in Trashigang : 2 men in Yangneer gewog and a 7-year old boy in Jomtshang, Udzorong .

The major damage to infrastructure occurred in Mongar and Trashigang. The damage details are: More than 50 houses, 12 chortens (religious structures) , 7 lhakhangs (government offices) and 3 gup

(sub-district office) in Mongar More than 50 houses, 19 chortens, 7 lhakhangs and 3 gup offices in Trashigang Severe cracks on Trashigang dzong (fortress or monastery ) Major damage to Lhuentse dzong Sertho of Trongsa dzong tilted Road blocks in many parts of Trashigang Major damage to Yongla Goenpa, Pemagatsel Cracks on and damage to Drametse lhakha ng Damages to Samtenling scho ol in Khotakha, Wangduephodrang More than 4 school buildings partially damaged in Mongar

The earthquake in Bhutan also caused some damage in north-east India:

Tremors were severely felt in Assam including the capital Guwahat i where several buildings, including a building in the Fancy Bazaar area, developed minor cracks. A 7 -storey building is reported to have tilted and touched a neighbouring building as a result of the earthquake in Guwahati's Bhangagarh area. Tremors were f elt strongly in much of Assam including at Baksa, Chirang, Kamrup, Kokrajhar, Nalbari, Udalguri and to a much lighter extent at Dhubri, Dibrugarh and Jorhat.

Tremors were felt throughout north -east and eastern India including Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Sikkim. In Meghalaya, it was felt at Shillong while in Arunachal Pradesh it was felt at Tawang.

In West Bengal, there was panic in Cooch Behar while minor damage was reported from Alipurduar, Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri. Tremors were also felt at Bamang ola, Belurghat, Darjeeling, Gajal, Jalpaiguri, Habibpur, Harishchandrapur, Ingraj Bazaar, Kaliachak, Kalimpong, Kurseong, Malda, Ratua, Shiliguri, Uttar Dinajpur, Vaishnavnagar and even as far as Kolkata where some high -rise buildings were evacuated in the Rajarhat and Salt Lake City areas.

In Bihar, it was felt at Araria, Bahadurganj, Katihar, Kishanganj, Madhepura, Patna, Saharsa and Thakurganj.

The earthquake in Bhutan was also felt in Bangladesh:

In Bangladesh, the earthquake was felt in most distri cts including Dhaka, Faridpur, Netrakona, Nilphamari, Rangpur, Sherpur, Sirajganj, Sunamganj and Sylhet as well as in the cities of Chittagong, Dhaka and Sylhet. In Dhaka, its effects were mainly experienced by the occupants of tall buildings.

Sources: • Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) • ASC-India.org • US Geological Survey • Global Disaster Alerts and Coordination

Systems Monitoring Service (gdacs.org) • UNDP Bhutan • Sphere India Sit Rep • IAG West Bengal Sit Rep

For Further Information contact : Mr. G. Padmanabhan Emergency Analyst, UNDP Email: g.padmanabhan@undp.org Mobile: +91 98104 02937 Ms. Shairi Mathur UN Disaster Management Team Associate Email: shairi.mathur@undp.org Mobile : +91 98107 23192

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