A slight intensity earthquake shook Chandigarh and several parts of neighboring States of Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh on Thursday afternoon.
Tremors lasting 6-7 seconds was felt in the region at 3:43 pm. “The epicentre of the earthquake was Punjab (district Hoshiarpur) and Himachal Pradesh border and it measured 4.7 on the richter scale. The earthquake took place at 3.43 pm at a depth of 10 km,” said Surender Paul, Director of the local Met Department.
He said, “The earthquake was of slight intensity. The latitude of the epicenter was 31.4 degree north and the longitude was 76.1 degree east. The tremors lasted for few seconds in the city and neighboring States.”No reports of damage to life and property have been reported in the city and neighboring States. In the city, the tremors created panic in few areas as people living in the upper floors rushed downstairs.
Earlier on August 2, an earthquake measuring 5.4 on richter scale had hit north Indian including Chandigarh and several parts of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir at 8.03 am.
Few minutes later, an aftershock of 2.7 magnitude was also felt in the region on the same day.
Various parts of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir lie in the seismic zone IV or V while many parts of Haryana lie in seismic zone IV, which means they are extremely vulnerable to earthquakes.