An earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale shook India's northeastern region early Friday causing panic among sleeping residents, according to Indo-Asian News Service.

The epicenter of the quake that occurred at 1:44 a.m. was along the Assam-Nagaland border, said an official with the seismological center in Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya.

There have been no reports of any damage or casualties so far, officials said.

"We ran out of our homes with the tremor shaking our beds. It was followed by a hooting noise," Deraj Ahmed, a resident in eastern Assam's Sivasagar town said by telephone.

The region had experienced at least seven moderate tremors during the past two months.

Spooked by the tsunami devastation, panic gripped Assam after media picked up a major earthquake warning prompting the local government to sound an alert last month.

A weeklong earthquake awareness campaign concluded in Assam recently with authorities conducting disaster management training sessions in various schools and multi-storied buildings.

(Xinhua News Agency February 4, 2005)