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Monday, September 19, 2011

Sikkim rattled by 6.9 richter scale eartquake

GANGTOK, 19 Sept:
Visitors on this blog have registered a heavy traffic looking for updates on the Sikkim earthquake. Telephones and internet were down in most parts all of last night, as was the power supply. At around 6:10 p.m., an earthquake measuring 6.9 on the richter sclae rattled Sikkim from its epicentre near Chungthang in North Sikkim. The shallow depth of the earthquake [ranging between 10 to 20 km below the earth's surface] made its impact more severe, experts state. Gangtok was rocked for at least a minute, but suffered only minor damage compared to what has visited North Sikkim and other parts of the State. 35 deaths have been confirmed [read post below for detail break up] thus far. the toll is expected to go up. We will try and keep the blog updated, but these are the figures for now. The weather has not helped the rescue and recovery efforts with most parts of the State cut off. The Siliguri-Gangtok road link was restored this afternoon, but the districts remain cut off. Most of the casualties occurred when people were caught by slides and rock falls outside. People in all towns spent a major part of the night outdoors as after shocks kept coursing through the State.

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