Earthquake Hits New Delhi at 1.11pm today

An earthquake of medium intensity jolted Delhi and its satellite towns this afternoon, pulling panic-stricken people out of their homes and offices. The tremors, measuring 4.9 on the Richter Scale with Haryana's Bahadurgarh as epicentre, were felt across Delhi and its adjoining satellite towns of Ghaziabad and Noida in Uttar Pradesh at a 1.11pm, the MeT office said. The quake took place 9km below the surface. The tremors were felt for less than ten seconds. "The intensity was 4.9 and the epicentre was Bahadurgarh, Delhi-Haryana Border," a senior MeT official said. There were no immediate reports of any casualty. The fire brigade and police said they have not received any immediate calls of casualty or damage. According to the Seismic Zone Mapping done by the Geological Survey of India (GSI), Delhi is among 30 cities in the country falling in zone IV, which is defined as a severe intensity seismic zone. This is the third tremor in Delhi, which is among the 30 cities which fall in the high risk seismic zone, since September last year. Tremors were felt in the capital on September 18 last year following an earthquake with an intensity of 6.8 on the Richter Scale having its epicentre near Sikkim-Nepal border. On September eight last year, an earthquake of 4.2 on Richter Scale with Haryana's Sonepat as epicentre, had rocked the capital. The tremors were felt in parts of Haryana, particularly those areas falling in the NCR region which are close to Bahadurgarh including Gurgaon, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Hisar, Bhiwani and other places. Some places in Punjab and Agra in Uttar Pradesh also experienced the tremors. Initial reports reaching Delhi said that people at some places in Haryana including those inside their offices rushed out after the tremors. Official sources here said there were no reports of any casualty or loss to property so far.