On this day, June 12, in the year 1897, an earthquake hit the state of Assam. It is considered one of the deadliest earthquake to hit the country as it claimed about 1,542 casualties. The natural disaster occurred at 5:15 pm in the evening and had a magnitude of around 8.0. The size of the area that the earthquake hit was approximately equal to that of Europe and the property damage was very heavy.
The damage from the earthquake also extended into Calcutta (now Kolkata) where many buildings were badly damaged or collapsed. Tremors were felt across India, as far as Ahmedabad, Peshawar and Myanmar. Numerous buildings in Bhutan were also heavily damaged.
In Shillong, the earthquake damaged many houses. In Cherrapunji, it resulted in a landslide, which led to 600 deaths. In Goalpara, it resulted in waves from the Brahmaputra River. In Nalbari, there were reported sightings of earth-waves and water waves. In Guwahati, the earthquake lasted for 3 minutes. The earthquake resulted in Shillong Plateau being thrust violently upwards by about 11 metres.