As a strong earthquake jolted Delhi and its adjoining areas in the early hours of Monday, many residents startled by strong jolts after a 4.0-magnitude earthquake struck the national capital and adjoining regions. Locals described the experience as unprecedented, with many fearing their buildings would collapse. The strong tremors prompted several residents of Delhi to rush out of their homes. Soon after the quake, netizens took to social media to share their experiences claiming the tremors were accompanied by an unusual noise which they described as "a wave in the ocean", "low growl" and that of a "cracker."
It was around 5:36 am on Monday and most of the residents in Delhi-NCR were asleep when strong tremors jolted them out of sleep and sent them running out of their houses in fear. The epicentre of the quake was in the Jheel Park area of Dhaula Kuan and there were some reports of people hearing a loud sound as the ground shook.
Videos showed the ground shaking as people watched in horror. It felt like the strongest earthquake that Delhi has experienced in years."I was standing in front of my dressing table when it started to shake heavily all of a sudden. At first, I thought it was due to some heavy truck passing by on the road, but then I realised it was an earthquake," a colleague said, adding that "there was also this rumbling sound." In another similar video, an electric wire can be seen shaking.
A woman in her 50s who was out on a morning walk in E Block of Noida Sector 20 said, "'Hum log bahar park me walk kar rahe the toh pata nahin chala. Lekin kafi tej tha. Log bahar aa gaye. (We were walking in the park, so we didn't feel it strongly. But it was quite strong. People came rushing out)'."
Naresh Kumar, a resident of West Delhi, said this was the first time that he had experienced such a strong tremor.Ratanlal Sharma, who was waiting at New Delhi railway station for a train to Prayagraj, said he was at the platform when he felt a sudden jolt."It felt like a train suddenly came to a screeching halt," he said.
Taking to X, a user wrote the he "heard" the tremors for the first time. He tweeted, "This is the first time I "heard" an earthquake … what a shocker .. anyone else heard it too? Like a low growl ..(sic)."
Anil Kumar, a resident of Sita Ram Bazar, said he never experienced such tremors before. "I felt a strong vibration and got scared. My wife and I immediately woke up our child and rushed outside," Kumar said. "I am a heart patient, so I panicked even more." he added.
Another Sita Ram Bazar resident, Sundar Lal, initially mistook the noise for monkeys on the terrace. "At first, we thought there were monkeys on our terrace making noise but then we realised it was an earthquake, so we all ran outside," he said.
"It was a very strong earthquake, and we were all terrified. But thankfully it didn't last long," he added. The National Center for Seismology said the earthquake struck at a focal depth of five kilometres at 5:36 am. There were no immediate reports of any damage or injuries.
A CCTV footage from the Budh Vihar area showed that as soon as the earthquake struck, a car's horn blew as its alarm went off. Deepa, a resident of West Delhi, said she was jolted by the tremors and the loud sound. "A similar earthquake occurred in 2012 but this one felt more intense. We were all very scared," she said.
Anil, a resident of Nehru Nagar, said the moment he felt the tremor, he ran out of his house with his two-year-old daughter. "There was a loud sound and strong jolts. My wife and I were very scared. The first thing we did was pick up our daughter and rush outside," he said.
A passenger waiting for his train at the New Delhi Railway station described the tremors as a "bridge collapse". "I was in the waiting lounge. All rushed out from there. It felt as if any bridge or something had collapsed," he said.
Another resident said, "Tremors were so strong. Felt like a train was moving nearby. Everything was shaking. I have never felt like this ever before. The entire building was shaking."
Shortly after the quake, the Delhi police urged citizens to call the emergency 112 helpline for emergencies. "We hope you all are safe, Delhi," they wrote on X.
Caretaker Delhi Chief Minister Atishi said she prayed for everyone's safety after the earthquake. "A strong earthquake just hit Delhi. I pray to God that everyone is safe," she said. Resharing Atishi's post, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal said, "I pray for the safety of everyone."
