Massive earthquakes with a magnitude of 8.2 or greater on the Richter scale could tear through the Himalayas - affecting MILLIONS.

The region is already reeling from a powerful quake on Monday.

Recent earthquakes in the region - Manipur 6.7 (Jan 2016), Nepal 7.3 (May 2015) and Sikkim 6.9 (2011) - have re-ruptured the plates that had already developed cracks during previous seismic activity.

This has led to conditions which might trigger multiple powerful earthquakes.

National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) has warned of enhanced risk around the "ring of fire garlanding the entire of northern India, especially the mountains".

Speaking to the Times of India, National Institute of Disaster Management director Santosh Kumar predicted a disaster of bigger magnitude, saying there is a "ring of fire garlanding the entire north India especially the mountains".

Roger Bilham, the seismologist of the University of Colorado, said: "The current conditions might trigger at least four earthquakes greater than 8.0 in magnitude.

"And if they delay, the strain accumulated during the centuries provokes more catastrophic mega earthquakes."

A powerful earthquake struck northeast India and Bangladesh on Monday, killing at least 11 people and injuring nearly 200, with efforts to reach remote areas where people may be trapped hampered by severed power lines and telecommunication links.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the 6.8 magnitude quake was 35 miles deep and struck 18 miles west of Imphal, capital of India's Manipur state, which borders Myanmar.

The pre-dawn quake killed six people in India and five in neighbouring Bangladesh, officials said, while shockwaves were felt in the Himalayan nation of Nepal and as far away as the Myanmar city of Yangon, about 730 miles to the south.

The quake struck while many people were asleep, and roofs and staircases of some buildings collapsed in Imphal, a city of about 270,000 people.

"It was like being tossed around in a frying pan," said Joy Thanglian, a 33-year-old employee of state energy firm Bharat Petroleum.

Police and hospitals in Imphal said the death toll had reached six with 100 people injured, 33 of them seriously.

Officials in Bangladesh said as well as the five people who died of heart attacks as they fled buildings, about 90 people were injured.