A strong earthquake, measuring 6.3 on the Richter Scale, Monday jolted parts of eastern and northeastern India, with tremors being felt in the states of Assam and West Bengal, an Indian Meteorological Department official said.

"Tremors shook parts of Assam and the towns of Malda and Siliguri in West Bengal at 14:30 p.m. local time (09:30 GMT). Though no casualties or injuries were reported, the quake left visible wide cracks on building in Assam's capital Guwahati," the official said.

The quake lasted about 20 seconds and people experienced two shocks, rattling the structuring and leaving people to storm out of their houses in that city, he said.

The Indo-Asian News Service said that the epicenter was at Munggar, Bhutan, about 500 km from Thimphu and 125 km northwest of Guwahati.

This is the fifth and the highest intensity earthquake to have rocked the northeast since Aug. 13, the news service quoted Regional Seismological Center of Shillong in the northeast state of Meghalaya as saying.

(Xinhua News Agency September 21, 2009)