Telephone lines were knocked out across the state, while power cuts plunged Gangtok, the capital, into darkness just seconds after the quake hit.
TV channels reported buildings buckling and pavements cracking.
They said two major roads had collapsed in the city, which has a population of 50,000.
Five people were killed in Sikkim and more than 50 reported injured, according to the state's top official, Chief Secretary Karma Gyatso.
"We have sounded a high alert. Police are on the streets in Gangtok and other major towns," he told the Associated Press news agency.
One person was killed during a stampede as people panicked in a town in the eastern state of Bihar, and other deaths were reported near Darjeeling, in West Bengal.
In Kathmandu, 270km (170 miles) west of the quake's epicentre, buildings were evacuated and traffic came to a standstill.
"Four people were injured when a wall collapsed after the quake. All of them were rushed to hospital but three died during treatment," Kedar Rijal, the chief of Kathmandu police, told Reuters news agency.
Those dead included a motorcyclist and his eight-year-old child who were struck as they rode past, police said.
Two others died in Dharan in Sunsari district, including a five-year-old child, according to the the Himalayan Times newspaper.
Lawmakers in parliament hurried out of the building shouting when the quake struck in the middle of a debate on the budget, witnesses said.
Indian Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth said rescue teams were being flown in to Sikkim from neighbouring states following an emergency meeting called by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The quake was also felt in Bangladesh and Bhutan.
In Dhaka, thousands of people ran out of high-rise buildings as the ground shook, Reuters reports.



0 comments:
Post a Comment