Quake shakes India's northeast...

An earthquake of 5.5 magnitude shook India's northeast yesterday, sending residents running from their homes, officials said, more than a month after authorities issued a quake warning for the area.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, officials said.

"There was a tremor at around 4.45 p.m. (1115 GMT) and people rushed out of their houses in panic," a police officer told Reuters by telephone from Shillong, capital of Meghalaya state.

The epicentre was near the border of Assam and Meghalaya states, in south Assam, an Indian Meteorological Department said in New Delhi.

"I was sitting with my 80-year-old mother and suddenly we felt the earthquake. I felt helpless because I could not take my mother out of the house quickly as she is old," said Shillong resident Ritamoni Phukan.

A 9.0 magnitude undersea earthquake off Indonesia on December 26 triggered a tsunami that slammed into India's coast, killing more than 16,300 people. About 300,000 people were killed or are missing in countries around the Indian Ocean.

Last month, authorities in Assam issued an earthquake warning after reports that the aftershocks of the earthquake off Indonesia might trigger seismic activity under northeast India.

India's Andaman and Nicobar islands, which were close to the epicentre of the December 26 tremor, have endured dozens of aftershocks of magnitude 5.0 and stronger since the tsunami devastated the archipelago.