Breaking: Earthquake tremors felt in Delhi
A minor earthquake struck Delhi-Noida and adjoining areas on Sunday afternoon. Earthquake tremors were mild in nature and there have been no reports of any loss due to tremors. According to the National Center for Seismology, the earthquake of magnitude 3.5 struck Delhi, news agency ANI reported. However, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) showed M 5.3 earthquake - 127km WSW of Aksu, China at the time of writing of this report.
Earlier, strong winds and dust storm swept Delhi and Noida area bringing the temperature down. Strong winds were followed by little drizzle.
The epicentre of the quake was near Wazirpur in northeast Delhi, J L Gautam, Head (Operations) at the NCS, an institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences. The same location and nearby areas were the epicentre of the earthquakes on April 12 and 13 of magnitude 3.5 and 2.7, respectively.
The quake occurred at a depth of five kilometres. Of the five seismic zones, Delhi falls under the fourth 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.
Earlier, light rainfall and dust storm in the national capital and neighbouring regions brought a much-needed relief from the sweltering heat, with weather predictions emphasizing that this condition is likely to stay for a few more days and will delay the onset of the heatwave.
The major quakes recorded near the national capital were at Bulandshahr of magnitude 6.7 on October 10,1956, and at Mordabad of magnitude 5.8 on August 15, 1966. Both are in western Uttar Pradesh.
(With PTI inputs)
