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4.1 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Sikkim's Mangan at Shallow Depth

A 4.1 magnitude earthquake struck Mangan in Sikkim at 8:46 pm on Saturday at a shallow depth of 14 kilometres. This event follows another tremor of magnitude 2.9 that occurred earlier in the day in Assam's Kokrajhar. The region is seismically active due to tectonic movements near the Himalayan geological faults. Shallow earthquakes, like this one, are defined as occurring between 0 and 70 kilometres beneath the Earth's surface.

Key Points: 4.1 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Mangan, Sikkim

  • Magnitude 4.1 quake in Mangan
  • Struck at shallow 14 km depth
  • Follows 2.9 tremor in Assam
  • Region prone to seismic activity
  • Shallow quakes defined as 0-70 km deep
1 min read

Earthquake of magnitude 4.1 strikes Mangan in Sikkim

A 4.1 magnitude earthquake struck Mangan, Sikkim at a shallow depth of 14 km. Details on the tremor and regional seismic activity.

"EQ of M: 4.1, On: 21/03/2026 20:46:01 IST, Lat: 27.556 N, Long: 88.576 E, Depth: 14 Km, Location: Mangan, Sikkim - National Centre for Seismology"

Mangan, March 21

An earthquake of magnitude 4.1 struck Mangan in Sikkim on Saturday, the National Centre for Seismology said.

The earthquake occurred at 8:46 pm at a shallow depth of 14 kilometres.

"EQ of M: 4.1, On: 21/03/2026 20:46:01 IST, Lat: 27.556 N, Long: 88.576 E, Depth: 14 Km, Location: Mangan, Sikkim," NCS wrote on X.

Further details are awaited.

Earlier today, an earthquake of magnitude 2.9 struck Kokrajhar in Assam, at a depth of five kilometres.

"EQ of M: 2.9, On: 21/03/2026 11:59:21 IST, Lat: 26.340 N, Long: 89.925 E, Depth: 5 Km, Location: Kokrajhar, Assam," NCS said.

Earthquakes can occur anywhere between the Earth's surface and about 700 kilometres below the surface. For scientific purposes, this earthquake depth range of 0 - 700 km is divided into three zones: shallow, intermediate, and deep, as per USGS data.

Shallow earthquakes are between 0 and 70 km deep; intermediate earthquakes, 70 - 300 km deep; and deep earthquakes, 300 - 700 km deep. In general, the term "deep-focus earthquakes" is applied to earthquakes deeper than 70 km, the USGS states.

Sikkim and parts of north-east India are prone to earthquakes due to the tectonic movement amid several active geological faults near the Himalayas.

- ANI

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Reader Comments

A
Aman W
Magnitude 4.1 at a shallow depth of 14km... that must have been felt quite strongly. The article mentions another one in Assam earlier. The entire Himalayan belt is so active. Stay safe, brothers and sisters in Sikkim.
R
Rohit P
The National Centre for Seismology is doing a good job with timely updates on X. This transparency is crucial. However, I wish local administrations in these prone areas would conduct more frequent disaster drills. We can't control nature, but we can be better prepared.
S
Sarah B
Reading this from Delhi. It's scary to think how frequent these are in the Northeast. My heart goes out to the people living with this uncertainty. The infrastructure there must be built to much higher seismic standards.
V
Vikram M
Shallow quakes are the ones that cause the most damage on the surface, right? Thankfully this was only 4.1. But it's a wake-up call. We in the plains often forget the geological reality of our mountain states. Jai Hind.
K
Kriti O
My cousin is in Gangtok. She said they felt a strong jolt but everything is fine. No damage reported. Thank God! 🙌 But the anxiety is real every time this happens. More power to the people of Sikkim and Assam.

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