Earthquake jolts Afghanistan; tremors felt in J&K, Delhi
New Delhi, June 27
An earthquake of magnitude 6.2 hit Afghanistan on Saturday evening, with strong tremors felt in Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir and several other North Indian states.
According to the National Centre for Seismology (NCS), the nodal agency of the Indian government for monitoring earthquake activity, the epicentre of the earthquake was in Afghanistan, and its magnitude was 6.2 on the Richter scale. It also mentioned that the earthquake struck at 7:04 p.m. (local time).
"Earthquake of magnitude 6.2, June 27, 19:04:51 IST, Lat: 36.442 N, Long: 70.672 E, Depth: 215 Km, Location: Afghanistan," it wrote in a post on social media platform X.
In April, a similar earthquake of magnitude 5.5 had hit the HinduKush region in Afghanistan, sending tremors across Pakistan's Islamabad, Peshawar, and several parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to local media reports.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department's (PMD) National Seismic Monitoring Centre (NSMC) reported that the earthquake occurred at a depth of 199 km and measured 5.5 in magnitude, reports leading Pakistani media outlet Geo TV.
Swat, Hangu, North Waziristan and Chitral felt tremors, while residents of Rawalpindi experienced severe tremors, the media report said.
The report also highlighted that there was a similar incident in April in which an earthquake of 6.1-magnitude hit Islamabad, parts of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).
This earthquake originated in Afghanistan's HinduKush region at a depth of 190km, according to the PMD. The report also mentioned the cities Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Muzaffarabad and Skardu also experienced tremors.
It also mentioned that there was a 5.8 magnitude earthquake in February this year, which jolted Islamabad, Swat, and Hunza.
In the same month, earthquake tremors were also felt across Delhi-NCR and several parts of North India, with its epicentre in Afghanistan at a depth of 150 km.
According to the information shared by the Meteorological Centre Srinagar, that earthquake measured 5.9 on the Richter scale.
Meanwhile, hundreds have reportedly been killed in twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela on Wednesday.
India on Friday launched 'Operation Amistad' to support earthquake-hit Venezuela, dispatching two Indian Air Force (IAF) planes carrying a field hospital unit and more than 35 tons of relief supplies, medicines and medical equipment.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Felt it in Delhi! Was just sitting down for dinner when the building started shaking. Scary for a few seconds. But thank God it was only a shallow tremor here. Hope our building codes are updated, especially in North India where these tremors are frequent.
As someone living in Srinagar, these 6+ magnitude quakes from Hindu Kush always make me nervous. Depth of 215 km is a bit reassuring, but still. Our region sits on active fault lines. Good that NCS is monitoring closely. Stay safe everyone.
Why does the article talk about Pakistan so much? They're not even part of India anymore. Focus on India and Afghanistan. Also, nice to see India sending aid to Venezuela - that's what being Vishwaguru is all about. 😊
Earthquake preparedness is something we Indians need to take more seriously. In the US we have regular drills. Here in Delhi, nobody even knows what to do when the ground shakes. We need more awareness campaigns, especially in schools and offices. Good article though.
Earthquake in Afghanistan, India sends aid to Venezuela... our foreign policy is quite active. But we should also invest in disaster-proofing our own infrastructure in North India. These tremors are becoming more frequent. Hope the government is taking note.
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