5.2 magnitude earthquake jolts Arunachal Pradesh's Tezu, no casualties reported

TEZU: An earthquake measuring 5.2-magnitude hit Tezu town in Arunachal Pradesh's Lohit district on Saturday.

The earthquake struck around 11 am, according to reports. No loss of life or damage to any property was reported so far.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS), which tracks earthquakes around the world, said that the epicentre of the quake was 111-km southeast of the census town.

Gandhigram, the location nearest to the epicentre, abuts Myanmar’s Kachin province.

According to USGS, the earthquake occurred at a depth of 42.6 km. 

Just three days ago, an earthquake of Magnitude 5 had struck in Bay of Bengal close to Andaman-Nicobar Islands. The epicentre of the quake was 172-km north of Mohean at a depth of 100 km in the sea.

On 9 May, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck northern Afghanistan. Tremors were felt in Pakistan and parts of north India in Delhi-NCR. The epicentre of the quake was Afghanistan-Tajikistan border.

Meanwhile, the mountainous northeastern India has experienced uneven pre-monsoon rains, though Tripura recorded 71 percent excess rainfall.

According to the India Meteorological Department, the seasonal monsoon (June to September) rainfall is likely to be 93 percent of the long period average over northeast India, comprising eight states - Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.

According to an IMD report, the pre-monsoon (March to May) rainfall was almost normal in Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura though there was a seven percent deficit in average rainfall in these meteorological sub-divisions.

The eight northeastern states are divided into four meteorological sub-divisions.

According to the IMD report, during the three-month-long pre-monsoon period, Arunachal Pradesh sub-division witnessed the highest deficit of 32 percent rainfall, recording 507.8 mm rainfall (actual) against the average of 750.4 mm.

With 23 percent deficit, Assam and Meghalaya sub-division recorded 451.7 mm rainfall (actual) against the average of 590.2 mm.

Meghalaya`s Cherrapunjee holds the record of being the second wettest place on earth, even as Mawsynram, also in Meghalaya, now holds the Guinness record for the highest amount of rainfall - 11,873 mm - in a year. 

Cherrapunjee still holds the record for the highest amount of rainfall in a calendar month, with 9,300 mm of rain recorded in July 1861.