Earthquake jolts India: Strong tremors felt in Delhi, Himachal, Kashmir, Punjab

New Delhi: A 6.6-magnitude earthquake on Sunday shook the northern part of India, rattling several states including Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.

The epicentre of the quake was Chitral which is in remote northwestern Pakistan, close to the Afghan border, at a depth of 210 km (130 miles).

A mild quake measuring 3.4 on the Richter scale, with its epicentre in Nandvi town, also shook Surat and Tapi districts of south Gujarat but no casualties were reported.

Tremors were also felt in parts of Rajasthan such as Jaipur, Sriganganagar, Bikaner and Churu.

According to J L Gautam, Operations Head of National Centre for Seismology, "The earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale at a depth of 190 km hit Hindukush mountain region at 3:58 PM."

Tremors were felt in Pakistan and large parts of north India, including Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana, besides Delhi National Capital Region.

The Sunday afternoon tremors left people scampering out of their homes.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who was in Delhi Secretariat when the tremors were felt tweeted, "earthquake!!! It was really scary! I could see plants and furniture shaking at 6th floor office of Delhi secretariat. Wish all is well".

Delhi Metro services were briefly suspended following the temblor.

"Service were halted briefly after the quake but we resumed operations soon after," a Delhi Metro official said.

Delhi Fire Department and police officials said control rooms have not received any calls reporting major damage or collapse of any buildings.

A mild earthquake hit Surat and Tapi districts of Gujarat around 3:04 pm, officials of the Institute of Seismological Research (ISR) said.

Surat District Collector Rajender Kumar said the low- intensity quake had its epicentre at Nandvi town near Surat.

"We have received reports of mild tremor with epicentre near Nandvi town. No reports of loss of life or property have been received," he said.

Tapi's Kakrapar town, which houses a nuclear power plant, also experienced the tremor, but there was no report of any damage to the facility.

After the tremors, panicked people at several places came out of their houses. Anudeep Goraya, a college teacher in Phagwara in Punjab, said most of the people, who were taking rest since it was a Sunday, ran out of their houses after the tremors.

Residents of local mohallas, including SBS Nagar Scheme No 3, also came out of their houses.

However, no loss of lives or property was reported, police said.

(With PTI inputs)