Earthquake rocks northern states, triggers panic in Delhi-NCR

India’s northern states were rocked by an earthquake on Tuesday night  which triggered panic in several cities including Delhi-NCR with residents rushing out of their homes for safety.

Video:

The earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale with its epicentre at 133 km SSE of Fayzabad in Afghanistan near the borders with Pakistan and Tajikistan struck at 10:17 pm, according to the National Centre for Seismology.

People living in high-rise apartments in Delhi-NCR said they could feel the building shaking and rushed out to escape the danger. Some were woken from their sleep as the buildings swayed.

Delhi University students in the North Campus were also in the grip of the earthquake scare and rushed out on to the roads in large numbers.

“The Hindukush region is very active seismologically. The reason why people in northwest India and Delhi felt the tremors for a relatively longer time is because of the depth. The depth of the fault is over 150 km so first primary waves were felt and then secondary waves. Aftershocks are likely now but they can’t be Forecast”, a PTI report cited J L Gautam, head of office and Scientist at National Center for Seismology, as saying.

The tremors were also felt in the northern states of Punjab, Himachal, Haryana, Rajasthan and the Union Territory of J&K.

Nine people are reported to have died in Pakistan due to the earthquake.