(FE)
An earthquake hit the North Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday morning. The India Meteorological Department confirmed the news and stated that the quake was measured 4.5 on the Richter scale. This is a low-density earthquake and no damage to life or property has been reported so far. The local media, however, reports that there was a situation of panic and people had to come out of their residences to protect themselves. The Indian Meteorological Department said that the depth of the quake was 10 kilometres and it resulted in jolts for a few seconds across most parts of the state. The IMD has classified the intensity of the quake as ‘slight’. Earlier in January this year, an earthquake of similar magnitude was reported from the Sumbal town in the state’s Baramulla district.
Meanwhile, in December, North India was in panic as the national capital and the neighbouring regions felt an earthquake of 5.5 magnitude. The epicentre of the quake was Rudraprayag in Uttarakhand. There was no loss of life. IMD’s National Seismological Centre had stated that the epicentre was at a depth of 30 km.
Uttarakhand, a part of the Himalayan region, falls under a high seismic zone. People felt strong tremors in the districts of Rudraprayag, Pithoragarh, Bageshwar, Champawat, Dehradun, Chamoli, Tehri and Ramnagar in Uttarakhand. Among the other areas affected by the quake were Delhi and parts of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
