Delhi gets the jitters yet again

NEW DELHI: Tremors were felt across Delhi and the National Capital Region on Friday evening as a medium-intensity earthquake measuring 4.7 on the Richter Scale struck Alwar in Rajasthan. No initial damage to any property or loss of life was reported, however, there were several instances of people rushing out of their homes and buildings when the tremors were felt at 7.00pm.
J L Gautam from the National Centre for Seismology said the earthquake occurred at a depth of 35 kms below the ground and had its epicentre in Alwar.“The earthquake had a magnitude of 4.7, making it the strongest amongst the recent earthquakes in the last three months in NCR. It occurred at 19:00:50 at a latitude of 28.00 N and a longitude of 76.69E,” said Gautam.
Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal also tweeted on Friday evening, “Mild earthquake tremors were felt in Delhi some time ago. Hope you are all safe, take care of yourself.”
Delhi-NCR has recorded a series of earthquakes since April 12, when an earthquake measuring 3.5 on the Richter scale struck the region. Since then, the capital has recorded at least 24 more earthquakes in NCR, according to NCS data. While majorly the earthquakes have had their epicentre in Rohtak, Haryana, this was the first in this series of earthquakes with the epicentre in Alwar.
Before this, the strongest earthquake recorded during this spell was on May 29, when an earthquake measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale struck NCR, with its epicentre again in Rohtak.
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 NCR including Delhi and Haryana fall in Zone-IV (severe), making them prone to earthquakes. The region also has several fault lines like Moradabad, Panipat and Sohna faults.
Last month, the three municipal corporations in the city began an exercise to identify older buildings in the capital, which had come up before the seismic provisions were incorporated in Delhi’s building bylaws, to obtain a structural safety certificate. All three corporations have fixed a deadline of six months for the process.