Dehradun: Dehradun: An earthquake of magnitude 2.4 struck Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district on Saturday morning at 5.47 am, according to the National Center for Seismology (NCS) website. This is the third earthquake in the district in the last 24 hours. No damage or loss of life has been reported as of the filing of the report.
The earthquake hit around 5 km beneath the earth's surface, according to the NCS website, the nodal agency of the Centre under the earth sciences ministry for monitoring earthquake activity in the country.
On Friday morning, two earthquakes of magnitudes 2.7 and 3.5 were reported in Uttarkashi district, Uttarakhand, according to the NCS website. No damage or loss of life has been reported. The first earthquake, with a magnitude of 2.7, struck around 5 km beneath the Earth’s surface at 7.41 am, while the second earthquake, measuring 3.5, struck at 8.19 am, also at a depth of 5 km, according to the data from NCS.
“Tremors of the first earthquake on Friday were felt in the district headquarters and Bhatwadi tehsil, with its epicentre near Tiloth. The tremors of the second earthquake were felt in the forest area of Dayara Bugyal in Bhatwadi tehsil,” Uttarkashi district officials said.
This follows a 5.1 magnitude earthquake reported in Myanmar, near the Manipur border, in the early hours of Friday, according to the seismological observatory at Manipur University. The earthquake struck at 12.53 am (Lat: 24.621° N, Long: 95.116° E, Depth: 130 km). The epicentre was located in Homalin town, Hkamti district, in Myanmar’s Northern Sagaing division.
{{/usCountry}}This follows a 5.1 magnitude earthquake reported in Myanmar, near the Manipur border, in the early hours of Friday, according to the seismological observatory at Manipur University. The earthquake struck at 12.53 am (Lat: 24.621° N, Long: 95.116° E, Depth: 130 km). The epicentre was located in Homalin town, Hkamti district, in Myanmar’s Northern Sagaing division.
{{/usCountry}}Uttarakhand lies in Zones IV and V of India’s earthquake zonation map. Pithoragarh, Bageshwar, Chamoli, and Rudraprayag districts, along with some areas of Almora, Champawat, Tehri, Uttarkashi, and Pauri districts, fall in Zone V, while the remaining areas fall in Zone IV.
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Uttarkashi district has experienced several earthquakes in recent years.
On September 6 last year, an earthquake of magnitude 3.0 struck the district. On May 7, 2024, an earthquake of magnitude of 2.6 was reported in the region. On January 18, 2024, two earthquakes of magnitudes 2.8 and 2.7 were recorded in Uttarkashi.
In 2023, on October 5, an earthquake of magnitude 3.2 hit the district. On September 11, another earthquake of magnitude 2.9 was reported in the area. Two earthquakes, with magnitudes of 2.8 and 2.5, were also recorded on August 29, affecting Uttarkashi and Bageshwar districts, respectively.
In October 1991, Uttarkashi district was hit by one of the biggest earthquakes in the state’s history, known as the Garhwal earthquake, with a magnitude of 6.8.
Uttarakhand’s seismic activity is linked to the region’s tectonic setting, as the Himalayas, which are around 50 million years old, continue to rise by approximately 5 mm per year due to the collision of the Indian plate beneath the Tibetan plate. This results in the high seismic activity observed in the region, with most areas falling under seismic zones IV and V.