Significant magnitude 5.1 earthquake 26 km southeast of Gangtok, India

05 Apr , 2021 By : Kanchan Joshi

An earthquake of magnitude 5.1 occurred only 19 minutes ago 26 km southeast of Gangtok, India, the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) reported.

The quake hit at a shallow depth of 10 km beneath the epicenter near Gangtok, East District, Sikkim, India, in the evening on Monday 5 April 2021 at 9:19 pm local time. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.

Our monitoring service identified a second report from the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) which listed the quake at magnitude 5.6.

Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake was probably felt by many people in the area of the epicenter. It should not have caused significant damage, other than objects falling from shelves, broken windows, etc.

In Gangtok (pop. 30,700) located 26 km from the epicenter, and Kalimpong (pop. 43,000) 36 km away, the quake should have been felt as light shaking.

Weak shaking might have been felt in Darjeeling (pop. 123,800) located 57 km from the epicenter, Goyerk?ta (pop. 66,400) 57 km away, K?rsiy?ng (pop. 46,400) 63 km away, Siliguri (pop. 515,600) 65 km away, Jaigaon (pop. 158,700) 66 km away, Jalpaiguri (pop. 107,800) 74 km away, and Thimphu (pop. 98,700) 87 km away.

VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you’re in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.