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6.2 magnitude earthquake in Nepal. Why Delhi-NCR, UP felt strong tremors
JL Gautam, head of office, NCS, said the earthquake had its epicentre in Nepal, about 200km southeast of Joshimath
NEW DELHI: An earthquake of 6.2 magnitude with its epicentre in Nepal caused tremors across north India including Delhi-NCR, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday at 2.51pm. According to an initial assessment by the National Center for Seismology, the depth of the earthquake was 5 km.
“A 6.2 M earthquake struck west Nepal. It is around 200km southeast of Joshimath. This is at shallow depth so strong tremors have been felt over north India,” said JL Gautam, head of office at NCS.
“When depth is high but the magnitude is relatively low, a very large area is likely to feel the tremors. But the opposite is also true as is in the current case where the depth is low but the magnitude is so high that tremors were felt here. It was felt for 10 to 15 seconds,” explained Gautam.
“There are many faults in the Himalayan region. It is a very active region tectonically. We are checking which faults are involved,” Gautam added.
Data compiled by NCS indicates that the 6.2 magnitude earthquake was preceded by a 4.6-magnitude earthquake at 2.25pm, and was followed by two more tremors at 3.06pm (3.6 magnitude) and 3.19pm (3.1 magnitude).
The Himalayan region, seismically one of the most active continental regions, experienced at least four magnitude 8 earthquakes during an active phase from 1897 to 1952, according to a paper titled “Himalayan Earthquakes and Developing an Earthquake Resilient Society” published in Journal of Geological Society of India in 2020.
The region is currently in a seismic quiescence phase, and enough strains have been accumulated, but that still does not make it easier to predict when and where the next big one will be.
