This Article is From Apr 13, 2020

Earthquake Felt In Delhi, Adjoining Areas For Second Consecutive Day

Earthquake Felt In Delhi, Adjoining Areas For Second Consecutive Day

A 3.5 magnitude shook Delhi on Sunday. (Representational)

New Delhi:

Mild tremors were felt this afternoon in parts of Delhi and adjoining areas. This is the second consecutive day that a low-intensity earthquake hit the national capital, which is under a lockdown to control the spread of the novel coronavirus.

A 2.7 magnitude earthquake hit the city at around 1:26 pm at a depth of 5 km, the National Centre for Seismology said. There were no immediate reports of any damage to property. 

On Sunday evening, a quake measuring 3.5 on the Richter Scale - with its epicenter at north Delhi's Wazirabad - shook the city at around 5:45 pm, prompting panic-stricken people to come out of their houses. The tremors were also felt in neighbouring Noida, Ghaziabad and Faridabad.

Minutes later, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted: "Tremors felt in Delhi. Hope everyone is safe. I pray for the safety of each one of you."

The city falls under the fourth of the five seismic zones. It is rare that Delhi has been the epicentre of an earthquake. The city, however, feels tremors when a quake occurs even as far as central Asia or in the Himalayan range, which is a high seismic zone. An earthquake of magnitude 2.8 had hit the national capital in 2004. Another quake of magnitude 3.4 was recorded in the city in 2001, according to official data, news agency PTI reported. 

Like the rest of the country, the national capital is also under a "total lockdown", which began on March 25, amid rising number of coronavirus cases. 

A majority of population has been asked to stay indoors, people are working from home to ensure social distancing, believed to be an effective method by experts to prevent the illness from spreading. 

(With inputs from PTI) 

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