Aalo, Apr 24: An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 on the Richter Scale hit West Siang at 1.45 am around midnight today creating widespread panic among the people of the region.
Although tremors were felt in all the districts of the state, no damages have been reported so far from any district apart from West Siang. It is the first tremor of this kind of intensity to hit the district, compelling many people to run out of their houses in fear.
The District Disaster Management Officer of West Siang, Nima Dorjee along with Circle Officer (CO) of Darak Circle visited Darak HQ having human settlements nearest to the epicenter for first-hand assessment of the situation/damages and confirmed that there are no damages in Aalo, the District Headquarters.
As reported by Indian Meteorological Centre (IMD), the epicenter of the earthquake is likely in the radius of 10 km from Darak circle in West Siang and Kaying EAC Headquarter in Siang district.
The tremor triggered massive landslides at various locations at Kamba-Darak road which is located 25 km from Aalo. The roads from Darak to Poyom, Darak to Bogo and Darak to Potom were also blocked due to landslides triggered by the earthquake. The blockage from Kamba to Darak was immediately cleared by the concerned PMGSY contractors by 1130 hrs.
Several government and private structures developed cracks and a portion of RCC boundary wall of CO office, Darak also collapsed.
No loss of life due to the earthquake has been reported so far and as of now, the situation is normal as no aftershocks have been reported or felt. The reports from districts are being updated regularly and the situation is being monitored.
Dos and don'ts/ safety tips are also being published in local dailies on regular intervals for public awareness. The Director (Disaster Management), Government of Arunachal Pradesh, in a press release has said that the news circulating in social media depicting pictures of severe damages of the earthquake is false. DDM  Press Release  & DIPRO inputs

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
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