On Thursday afternoon, Delhi-NCR and neighboring vicinities felt the ground shake due to seismic activity originating from afar. The seismic waves rocked the National Capital Region—encompassing Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, and Gurugram—as well as other northern parts of India, including Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, and Punjab. The source of the seismic activity, according to geological experts, was traced back to Afghanistan.
The Indian authorities specializing in seismology pinpointed the coordinates of the earthquake’s origin, placing it in the mountainous terrains of Afghanistan. The quake struck deep underground, with the tremors noticed by residents at precisely 2:50 pm. Not constrained by borders, the tremors reached as far as Pakistan, with people in Lahore, Islamabad, and cities within Khyber Pakhtunkhwa feeling the reverberations. Despite the widespread geographic impact, there have thankfully been no immediate reports of injury or damage to infrastructure in the wake of the earthquake. The quake instigated alarm and led to precautionary evacuations as people vacated buildings, fearing aftershocks.
Pakistan’s own meteorological agency corroborated the seismic readings, recording a significant earthquake around the same time. They identified the Hindu Kush region as the seismic source. The U.S. Geological Survey contributed additional data, measuring the quake slightly higher on the Richter scale and giving it a depth of over 200 kilometers near Jurm, Afghanistan. These tremors serve as a stark reminder of the Earth’s dynamic crust beneath our feet and the need for vigilance and preparedness in the face of natural events.