People are still in a state of shock,' said Kesang Wangchuk, a local businessman in Samdrup Jhonkhar.

'Some of the monasteries were damaged and monks and other people simply fled the worship places out of fear,' said T. Dorji, a resident of Trashigang district in eastern Bhutan.

'There are reports of landslides in some areas and power and telecommunications networks have been disrupted in eastern districts of Bhutan,' Bhutan's Home Minister Lyonpo Minjur Dorji said.

The quake sent boulders down hillsides in eastern Bhutan, blocking roads to remote hilly regions.

Meanwhile, a 5.7 magnitude earthquake shook India's northeast and Myanmar early Tuesday.

According to the Indian meteorological department, a 5.7 magnitude earthquake rocked parts of India's northeast at 1.08 a.m. on Tuesday with the epicentre located along Myanmar.

The tremor was experienced in India's northeastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur, besides Myanmar.

This is the second quake to have rocked the region in less than 12 hours -- after a 6.3 magnitude earthquake at 2.23 p.m. on Monday rocked Bhutan and India's northeast.

'There are no immediate reports of any damage to lives and properties in Tuesday's earthquake, although people panicked and ran out of their homes with Monday's high intensity quake still fresh in their minds,' said a disaster management official.

Strong tremors lasting up to 20 seconds Monday were experienced in Guwahati, the main city of Assam, where nervous residents ran into the streets.

Cracks appeared in several buildings in the city but there was no serious damage, witnesses said.

Tuesday's tremor is the sixth since Aug 11 to have hit India's northeastern region.