Earthquake hits Capital, people rush out of homes

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:13.04.2020

Strong tremors felt across Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) prompted thousands of people to rush out of their houses on Sunday evening. The 3.5-magnitude earthquake was a rare event for the region as its epicentre lay within the capital, at Sonia Vihar in northeast Delhi, at a depth of 8km below the surface, IMD officials said.

No injuries or damage to property was reported, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) said. The National Centre for Seismology said the quake occurred at 5.45pm.

In a remarkable coincidence, a fake message saying that US space agency NASA had predicted a strong earthquake in Delhi-NCR between April 7 and 15 had recently become so viral that the factchecking arm of the government had to intervene to deny it. “It’s rare for an earthquake to have its epicentre in Delhi. We are yet to check what fault line this was in, but the intensity was fairly low,” said an IMD official.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal also tweeted soon after the tremors were felt, praying for the safety of every individual. “Tremors felt in Delhi. Hope everyone is safe. I pray for the safety of each one of you,” he said.

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). Delhi falls in zone IV (severe), with three fault lines running through it — the Sohna, Mathura and Delhi-Moradabad fault lines. Gurgaon is at a higher risk with seven fault lines running across it.