An earthquake of magnitude 6 strikes North India

Added by Nigel Shelbourne on September 7, 2011

An earthquake with a magnitude of 6 on the Richter scale and its epicenter along the Indo-Nepal border was recorded by Indian seismologists on Wednesday.

The earthquake occurred at 11:30 pm local time (6pm UTC/GMT). There are no reports of any major damage in any of the areas so far. The tremors were felt in the north Indian regions of Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad and parts of the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. Some people reportedly felt tremors as late as 11:32 pm Wednesday in remote places in the hilly state, which is about 200 kilometers closer to the epicenter.

People told television news reporters that they were struck with fear when they felt the ground beneath them shaking especially after what they saw happen in Japan. Everyone started running out of their houses into open spaces when they felt the tremors.

The location of the epicenter was reported by the seismologists in New Delhi as 29.58 North latitude and 80.73 East longitude, roughly on the India-Nepal border. Though the automatic recording was 6 on the Richter scale, experts say that this is based on an automated reading, so the measurement is expected to change when analysis and calculations are complete.