NEW DELHI:
Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) felt tremors for the fifth time since April 12 on Friday evening. However, this was the strongest of the five earthquakes—measuring 4.5 on the
Richter scale,
National Centre of Seismology (NCS) said.
There were no initial reports of damage to any property or loss of life. However, there were instances of several people rushing out of their homes and buildings after the tremors jolted the city at 9:08pm.
JL Gautam from NCS said the
earthquake occurred at a depth of 5km and had its
epicentre near Rohtak in Haryana.
“The earthquake had a magnitude of 4.5 and occurred at 21:08:40 at a latitude of 28.8 N and longitude of 76.7 E,” said Gautam.
A Met official said this is the first medium intensity earthquake in the spell, with several
low-intensity earthquakes felt in both April and May. The epicentre, however, was not Delhi this time. “All four previous earthquakes had their epicentre in Delhi. This was a fair distance away from Delhi, therefore parts of Delhi-NCR only felt mild tremors,” added the official.
All four of Delhi’s previous earthquakes, which first began on April 12, have been 3.5 on the Richter scale or less.
The Bureau of Indian Standards has classified the entire country into four seismic groups – ranging from zone II (low intensity) to zone V (very severe).
Large parts of Delhi, Haryana and Chandigarh fall in Zone-IV (severe), making them prone to earthquakes. The region also has several fault lines, including Moradabad, Panipat and Sohna.
The first earthquake recorded out of the five was on April 12, measuring 3.5 on the Richter scale. The earthquake had its epicentre at Sonia Vihar in east Delhi. The following day, another earthquake measuring 2.7 magnitude hit Delhi with the epicentre in the same area.
The third earthquake which struck Delhi-NCR on May 10 measured 3.4 on the Richter scale and had its epicentre near the Delhi-UP border, while the latest had been 2.2 only on May 15 with its epicentre near Pitampura in Delhi.