Significant earthquakes of 2018

September 12, 2018 Earthquake: West Bengal, India

September 12, 2018 · M5.3 · 1 death

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck West Bengal, India on September 12, 2018 at 04:50:46 UTC, 10 km below the surface. It killed 1 person.

Map

Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.

The earthquake

Date
September 12, 2018
Time
04:50:46 UTC
Place
West Bengal, India
Magnitude
5.3 (Mw)
Focal depth
10 km (6 mi)
Intensity
6 on the Modified Mercalli scale
Tsunami
None recorded
Epicenter
26.371° N, 90.161° E
Country
India

The toll

Deaths
1

Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.

What the record says

NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.

A man died of a head injury after he tumbled down the stairs while rushing out of his residence in North Bengal's Siliguri on Wednesday morning when tremor was felt, during an earthquake with magnitude 5.5 on the Richter Scale, with the epicenter in Assam's Kokrajar this morning. Strong tremors were felt across the Northeast, West Bengal and Bangladesh. Samrat Das (22), a resident of Shantinagar in Siliguri, was rushing out of his residence house in fear of earthquake when he fell from the stairs in haste and received serious head injury. (reference #12230)

Kokrajhar, Assam, India - CDI: 6; Barpeta, Assam, India - CDI: 5; Dinhata, Bangla, India - CDI: 5; Sapatgram, Assam, India - CDI: 5; Gossaigaon, Assam, India - CDI: 5(reference #13456)

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

More

Significant earthquakes of 2018The 2000sEvery quake the USGS located in 2018Recent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history

Sources

Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 10367.