After dust storm a medium-intensity quake hits Delhi

A medium-intensity earthquake of 3.4 magnitude hit Delhi on Sunday. According to the National Center for Seismology (NCS), the quake occurred at 1.45 pm at a depth of five kilometres. There were no immediate reports of loss of life or property. According to the National Centre of Seismology, the earthquake measured 3.5-magnitude on the Richter scale and had its epicentre in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.

No casualty or loss of property has been reported. This is the third low-intensity earthquake in the national capital amid the nationwide coronavirus lockdown. Delhi had witnessed two back-to-back incidents of low-intensity earthquakes in April. On April 13, a moderate intensity quake of magnitude 3.5 hit the national capital at a depth of 8 km.

The very next day, another low-intensity earthquake of magnitude 2.7 shook parts of Delhi. The earthquake, with its epicentre near Wazirpur in northeast Delhi, occurred at 1.26 pm at a shallow depth of 5 km, said JL Gautam, Head (Operations) at NCS, an institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

Of the five seismic zones in the country, Delhi falls under the fourth-highest zone. The national capital is vulnerable to earthquakes but it is rare for it to be the epicentre of a quake. Delhi, however, experiences tremors when a quake hits regions as far as central Asia or the Himalayan ranges, known to be a high-seismic zone.