Earthquake in Afghanistan; mild tremors felt in Delhi, nearby regions

As reports of earthquake tremors surfaced, many took to social media platforms to share their experiences. No casualties or damage have been reported

Mild tremors were felt in Delhi and neighbouring regions after an earthquake of magnitude of 5.7 struck Afghanistan on Thursday. The National Center for Seismology (NCS) reported that the earthquake occurred at approximately 11.26 am local time, at a depth of 255 kilometres below the Earth’s surface.

Its epicentre was pinpointed at a latitude of 36.51 degrees North and a longitude of 71.12 degrees East in Afghanistan, the agency said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

No casualties or damage have been reported from the tremors. As news of the quake spread, many took to ‘X’ to share their experiences. Some light-heartedly noted that the capital was also hit by heavy rainfall earlier, leading to waterlogging and traffic jams.

 

Delhi woke up to massive traffic jams after rains

Visuals from ITO and other parts of central Delhi showed long traffic jams while areas like Malviya Nagar, MB road in Sangam Vihar, Mukarba Chowk, Rohtak Road towards Tikri border were impacted due to waterlogging and uprooting of trees due to the storm.

While the situation was restored by the Delhi Traffic Police in some areas, many people complained that movement of vehicles on Rajokri flyover, Kanjhawala road towards Buddh Vihar, Aurobindo Marg near PTS remained slower than usual.

Earthquake trends in the region

Meanwhile, hashtags related to earthquakes were trending in India on ‘X’, data showed. At 2.00 pm, close to 8,000 posts with hashtag earthquake were shared on the Elon Musk-owned social media platform.

Afghanistan had experienced an earthquake of magnitude below 5 on Friday as well. Earthquakes are quite frequent in that region as the country sits where the tectonic plates meet and move a lot. The presence of multiple fault lines (the cracks in the Earth's surface) leads to collision of tectonic plates, which can cause earthquakes.