When earthquake jolted Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram - What panic-stricken people revealed

At 5.45 PM on Sunday(12th April), panic-stricken people rushed out of their homes despite 21-day coronavirus lockdown in place. And, the reason was an EARTHQUAKE! An earthquake of magnitude 3.5 shook the region on Sunday evening. Notably, the epicentre was in capital city Delhi and not far away in Nepal or Afghanistan. According to the National Centre for Seismology (NCS), the quake occurred at 5.45 pm and its epicentre was in Wazirabad in northeast Delhi at the depth of 8 km, said J L Gautam, head (operations) at NCS.

The tremors were also felt in neighbouring Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gurugram and other adjoining areas. Fortunately, there were no reports of loss of life or damage to property.

As the tremors were felt, many people rushed out of their homes to seek refuge in the open. 

People have been staying at home due to the lockdown imposed to contain the spread of coronavirus.

Noteworthy, Delhi falls in fourth of the five seismic zones.

It is rare that Delhi has been the epicentre of an earthquake. The city, however, feels tremors when a quake occurs even as far as central Asia or in the Himalayan range, which is a high seismic zone.

"Tremors felt in Delhi. Hope everyone is safe. I pray for the safety of each one of you," Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted.

S Damle, a resident of East Delhi said, "I felt my chair shaking and there was a loud rumbling sound. It was really frightening."

"We were watching TV and suddenly felt the tremors. We ran out of the house. Few of our neighbours had also gathered outside. We greeted them from a distance and returned to the house," said Arefa Sultana, a resident of Lajpat Nagar 1, as per PTI.

An earthquake of magnitude 2.8 had hit the national capital in 2004. Another quake of magnitude 3.4 was recorded in the city in 2001, according to an official data.

In Delhi's adjoining western Uttar Pradesh, Bulandshahr had recorded an earthquake of magnitude 6.7 on October 10, 1956, while Moradabad registered a 5.8 magnitude quake on August 15, 1966.