Shillong, Dec 21 (TIWN) An earthquake measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale Sunday jolted northeastern states and parts of Myanmar Sunday, authorities said.The earthquake occurred at 11.08 a.m. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage to property.According to the regional seismological centre in Shillong, the capital city of Meghalaya, the epicentre lay on the India-Myanmar border in Manipur.The tremor was also felt in Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Tripura's northern part.The northeast region is considered the world's sixth most earthquake-prone belt.Tripura is situated in the most vulnerable earthquake prone Zone-V of India. North East India needs an early earthquake warning system and India's Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) is considering a similar system for Uttarakhand in the foothills of the Himalayas. Seismologists at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Roorkee are tasked with building a prototype. Tripura has over 2,000 vulnerable buildings as identified by Govt. These include Ujjayanta Palace, abode of former princely rulers of the state in the heart of Agartala town, Raj Bhavan, Neer Mahal, a lake palace built by Tripura’s last king Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya in 1933, MBB College and a large number of school buildings. In spite of Central Govt and Scientists repeated warnings, Tripura Govt has no interest to force regulations upon multistoried constructions mushrooming in Agartala.

In an attempt to tackle the multi disaster prone possibilities, the state Revenue Department signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the UNDP and Government of India on June 26, 2003 for implementation of GOI-UNDP Disaster Risk Management Programme in the state. Since then, Revenue Department has taken a lead role on Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation and Prevention activities at various levels in the state.