Tremors were felt across Delhi and the National Capital Region on Saturday evening, after an earthquake of 6.2 magnitude struck Afghanistan.
No initial loss to any life or damage to any property has been reported.
According to the National Centre for Seismology (NCS), the earthquake was recorded 74km south of Fayzabad, Afghanistan, at 7:04 pm, and had a depth of 215km.
An NCS official said the earthquake had little impact on Delhi due to its distance of nearly 1,026 km from the epicentre.
“The earthquake was felt in Delhi, but it did not have an impact, as the epicentre was very far away. The tremors felt in Delhi were very deep. If the depth was lesser, it would not even have been felt in Delhi,” the official said, on the condition of anonymity.
The Bureau of Indian Standards classifies the entire country into four seismic groups, ranging from zone II (low intensity) to zone V (very severe). Delhi and NCR fall into zone IV (severe), making seismic activity a fairly common occurrence and Saturday’s earthquake no anomaly.
Delhi’s proximity to the Himalayan region, which is also in a high-seismic zone, further makes the capital prone to aftershocks, according to experts.
While Delhi has three active fault lines running through it — the Sohna, Mathura and Delhi-Moradabad fault lines, the neighbouring Haryana region has seven such lines running across it.
