After Delhi, earthquake tremors hit Bihar’s Siwan

An earthquake of magnitude 4 on the Richter Scale struck Bihar’s Siwan on Monday with a depth of 10 kilometres, the national centre for seismology said.

This comes just hours after strong earthquake tremors were felt in Delhi and the national capital region.

According to NCS data, the quake that hit Bihar was at a latitude of 25.93 North and longitude of 84.42 East.

In the early hours of Monday, around 5:36 am, Delhi residents were woken up by strong tremors, with several people rushing out of their homes. Though the quake was at a magnitude of 4 on the Richter scale, with a depth of five kilometres, the effect of the jolt left people in shock.

Shallow earthquakes, originating five or 10 kilometres below the surface, tend to cause more damage than those originating deep below the surface.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also promptly reacted to the tremors, asking residents to remain calm and follow the necessary safety precautions. He also urged people to stay alert for possible aftershocks.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police also asked people to reach out at ‘112’ in case of any emergencies.

The epicenter of the quake in Delhi was reportedly in the Jheel Park area near the Durgabai Deshmukh College of Special Education in Dhaula Kuan. An official told news agency PTI that the region, which has a lake nearby, has been experiencing smaller and low-magnitude quakes once every two to three years.

Notably, the tremors were felt in Delhi and the surrounding areas of Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad and Gurugram (previously Gurgaon).

Last month, when a 7.1 magnitude earthquake rocked the neighbouring country of Nepal, the tremors were strongly felt in parts of Bihar as well. People had run out of their homes and apartments in view of the jolts.

The national centre for seismology had at the time said that the quake’s epicenter was located at latitude 28.86 degrees North and longitude 87.51 degrees East, at a depth of 10 kilometers. The location of the tremor was identified as Xizang (Tibet Autonomous Region), near Nepal.