Strong earthquake rattles India and Nepal and Bangladesh - 6,8 degrees Richter, today, 18 th of September 2011

Magnitude 6.8 tremor centred around northeast Indian state of Sikkim leaves nine people dead and buildings damaged.

Members of the Nepalese army gather around a damaged car at the British embassy in Kathmandu.

A strong earthquake has shaken northeastern India and Nepal, killing at least nine people, damaging buildings and sending politicians in Kathmandu, Nepal's capital, running into the streets.

The earthquake, with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8, was felt on Sunday night across north India, including the capital of New Delhi.

It triggered at least two aftershocks of magnitude 6.1 and 5.3, said RS Dattatreyan, an Indian seismology official, who also warned more aftershocks were possible.

At least four people in India's Sikkim state were killed and an unspecified number of people were injured, Jasbir Singh, the state police chief, told the AP news agency.

The full extent of damage was not immediately known because the region is sparsely populated, with many living in remote areas which were cut off by mudslides triggered by the quake, Singh said.

Nepal's government said five people died and dozens were hurt there.

'High alert'

TV stations reported buildings collapsed and pavements cracked in Sikkim's state capital of Gangtok, 68km southeast of the earhquake's epicentre.

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police said two of its buildings had collapsed in Gangtok.

Singh said rescuers were working overnight to search for anyone pinned under fallen buildings in the city, which has a population of 50,000.

"We have sounded a high alert. Police are on the streets in Gangtok and other major towns," he said.

Electricity and some phone services were interrupted in the area and power lines snapped in the West Bengal cities of Darjeeling and Kalimpong, which "are now in total darkness", Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh offered to send troops to help, and summoned the National Disaster Management Authority for an emergency meeting.

The air force sent five planes to help with rescue efforts.

In neighbouring Nepal and Bangladesh, the earthquake sent residents rushing out of their homes, offices and shopping centres.

In Kathmandu, members of parliament who were debating the national budget ran out of the assembly hall into a parking area. They returned 15 minutes later and resumed their session.

The earthquake was also felt as far as the Indian capital, with New Delhi residents also rushing out of shaking buildings.

AL JAZEERA ENGlISH