Tuesday, January 18 2005 18:37 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Guwahati: An earthquake of moderate intensity reading 5 on the Richter scale rocked Assam and Meghalaya at 8.33 hrs (IST) today (Jan 18, 2005).

The Central Seismological Observatory (CSO) Shillong in charge A C Lyndoh told sources in Guwahati that the quake's epicenter was on latitude 23.0-degree north and longitude 94.4-degree east in the Indo-Myanmar border region.

The tremor was not an aftershock of the tsunami as no such movement was recorded recently, Lyndoh added.

There was no report of loss of any life or property, official sources said, adding, people rushed outdoors when the tremor struck.

With a declining trend in aftershocks of the Sumatra earthquakes recorded by the Indian Meteorological Department network since Jan 2, 2005, seismologists of Assam were unwilling to awt the US agency's warnings about the possible major earthquake in the State soon.

This warning from the scientists at the Center for Earth Observing and Space Research in George Mason University in Virginia, USA, to the Indian Government, however, had a positive outcome in prompting the State Government to go on an emergency disaster management mode, officials said.