Tremors felt in Dehradun as moderate earthquake hits Hindukush region

DEHRADUN: Strong tremors, lasted for few seconds, were felt in Dehradun and other part of Uttarakhand on Sunday afternoon at around 4pm following an earthquake of 6.8 of magnitude had hit Afghanistan with an epicentre north-east of Kabul.

The Meteorological Centre in Dehradun confirmed that shockwaves of an earthquake were felt in Dehradun as well. “It was a moderate intensity earthquake with epicentre at Hindukush mountain range in Afghanistan having latitude of 36.4 degree north and longitude of 71.2 degrees east. The focal depth was observed at 190km,” said Bikram Singh, Director of Meteorological Centre.

Panic gripped residents in Dehradun as they rushed out to the open spaces outside following the shockwaves. “I was watching a movie inside my home when I saw my table shaking. I immediately asked my family members to go out of home. It was scary,” said Vidit Kumar, a college student.

A college professor, Ayushi Sharma told TOI, “I could see plants and furniture shaking in my home. As it was Sunday everyone was at home. We all went outside and stood in the garden for over 30 minutes.”

Meanwhile, the disaster management department officials have claimed that there are no reports of any causalities or damage to property in the state.

A state emergency operation centre official said, “We have not received any report of damage from districts. Uttarakhand is very far from the epicentre and there are negligible chances of any damage in places having such a large distance from the originating point.”

It is to be noted Uttarakhand was jolted on September 26, 2015 when a strong earthquake of 7.5 magnitude had hit same Hindukush region in Afghanistan.