Tremors were felt in several parts of northern India including Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and national capital New Delhi. Initial reports by the National Centre for Seismology (NCS) suggest it was a magnitude 6.1 earthquake with the epicentre in Amritsar, Punjab.
While the earthquake in Amritsar occurred at 10.43 pm, according to the NCS, another earthquake occurred minutes before in Tajikistan with a magnitude of 6.3 on the Richter scale.
There have been no immediate reports of destruction or casualties.
According to reports, the earthquake was felt in various parts of neighbouring Pakistan, too.
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah tweeted: “Not since the earthquake of 2005 have the tremors in Srinagar been bad enough to force me out of the house. I grabbed a blanket & ran. I didn’t remember to take my phone & so was unable to tweet “earthquake” while the damn ground was shaking.”
In terms of location, the earthquake in Punjab occurred 21 KM East South-East of Amritsar, 151 KM North of Bathinda,Punjab, 158 KM South of Katra, Jammu and Kashmir, 173 KM West of Mandi, Himachal Pradesh and 185 KM West of Chandigarh.
A low intensity earthquake of magnitude 3.5 on ritcher’s scale was recorded in Jammu and Kashmir on February 8. Another low-intensity earthquake of magnitude 2.8 hit Delhi on January 28 earlier this year.
