5.4-magnitude earthquake hits Nepal; tremors felt in Delhi-NCR, Uttarakhand

PTI

New Delhi/Dehradun, November 12

Strong tremors were felt in parts of north India, including in Delhi-NCR, on Saturday night as a 5.4-magnitude earthquake struck Nepal, nearly 101 km east-southeast from Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand, officials said.

The epicentre of the quake was Patadebal of Bajhang, 460 km west of Kathmandu, the National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Centre of Nepal said.

There was no immediate report of any damage.

Panic-striken people rushed out of their houses as the temblor struck at 7:57 pm, three days after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake epicentred in Nepal left six people dead in the neighbouring country.

This is the third earthquake to hit seismically-active Nepal in a week.

Tremors were also felt in parts of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and some western Uttar Pradesh districts like Bijnor, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli.

Kamal Tewari, a resident of Noida said, he experienced the tremors for at least 10 seconds, adding “it was not as strong as the one on Wednesday night but still left us in fear”.

Ravi Chopra just reached home when he felt the jolts.

“I was sitting in the living room when I saw the fan and the chandelier swaying,” the Ghaziabad resident said.

Many people also shared their experiences on Twitter, posting videos of people rushing out of their houses and some gathering in groups.

Earlier, a 3.4 magnitude earthquake with epicentre in the Pauri Garhwal region in Uttarakhand had struck at 4:25 p.m. on Saturday.

The Himalayan region along the Uttarakhand-Nepal border has experienced at least eight earthquakes of varying magnitudes between November 8 and 12, the data from the National Centre of Seismology showed.

Saturday’s quake originated in Nepal at a depth of 10 km with Latitude 29.28 N and Longitude 81.20 E.

In Uttarakhand, the tremors were felt in places including Pithoragarh, Munsiyari and Gangolihat.

“The origin of the earthquake was 10 km deep and 3 km from Silanga town of Nepal. The affected countries are India, China and Nepal,” Pithoragarh Disaster Management Officer BS Mahar told PTI.

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