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Sikkim quake, biggest in northeast in 20 years

The northeastern region on Sunday experienced the biggest earthquake in 20 years.

The earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter Scale which hit the east and NE region, was the biggest in 20 years, officials said.

Records of Central Seismological Observatory in Shillong showed increasing seismic activity in the region.

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Sikkim quake, biggest in northeast in 20 years

A total 34 quakes of light and moderate intensity were felt in the region in 2009. The area witnessed 26 earthquakes each in 2008 and 2007, while it was 23 in 2006, the data showed.

On February 4, a quake of 6.4 magnitude with its epicentre in the Indo-Myanmar border in Manipur shook the region. An earthquake of similar intensity (6.8) had rocked the northeast on August 6, 1988.

Sikkim quake, biggest in northeast in 20 years

On October 11, 2000 a quake of 6.0 intensity was felt in the region, while on September 21, 2009, another measuring 6.2 had claimed six lives in neighbouring Bhutan, where it was epicentred.

The northeastern region had experienced some of world's worst quakes like the Shillong quake and the Assam quake of 1950 both measuring around 8.5.

An earthquake in 1897 in Shillong plateau had left 1,542 people dead.