The high magnitude ( 6.3 on Richter scale) earthquake which rocked Assam and other North-eastern States at 2.24 pm on Monday might be due "loading and unloading" of stresses in the Himayalan region consequent to the 7.8 magnitude tremor that occurred in the Andaman islands last month.
This view was expressed by R. Chadha, a senior seismologist at the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI). The seismic observatory at NGRI recorded today’s tremor whose epicentre was located in Bhutan, about 130 km from Guwahati. He said the temblor was quite shallow and that was the reason for being felt over a wide area.
He said an earthquake measuring 6.3 in that region was not surprising as it was seismically active. The region was prone to temblors of magnitude greater than eight. The Indian plate was colliding with two different plates—Eurasian plate in the North and Burmese plate in the East. This phenomenon would lead to accumulation of lot stress.
The seismologists at NGRI are monitoring the situation to see if there would be any aftershocks and their pattern, if any.