Tremors felt in and around Delhi and rocked Iran and Pakistan

Tremors felt in and around Delhi but safe

I was at the parliament street when I got a message from a friend of mine from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia who had seen on the TV that the tremors were felt in New Delhi. My friend knew that I was in Delhi and immediately they got worried and sent a message. Till such time I was not aware about it at all. But within few minutes the news spread like a wild fire and everybody started discussing about it. Some experienced and some could not understand as to what was happening. But according to those who experienced, they said that their chairs were shaking and they could see the chandelier moving like a pendulum then they understood it was a tremor. I give below the details as reported by the media.

Strong tremors rocked large parts of north India, including the national capital and its adjoining areas, tuesday evening. The quake measured 7.8 on the Richter scale at its epicentre on the Pakistan-Iran border. "The epicentre of the quake was the Pakistan-Iran border and it measured 7.8 on the Richter scale," V. Dattatreya, head, seismology, India Meteorological Department.

The quake took place at 4.14 p.m. (IST) at a depth of 33 km. The people who experienced said that the strong tremors that lasted several seconds, leading to panic in many places. People rushed out of their offices and homes in the National Capital Region.

A major 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Iran near the border with Pakistan on Tuesday killing 40 people and injuring many. According to an Iranian government official, hundreds of deaths are expected.  According to the sources, they said "It was the biggest earthquake in Iran in 40 years and we are expecting hundreds of dead.” The tremors were also felt in Pakistan, India and other gulf nations. 13 people were killed in southwestern Pakistan on when the region was struck by tremors from the earthquake.

The US Geological Survey said the quake hit at 10:44 GMT at a depth of 15.2 km (9.4 miles). The epicentre was in southeast Iran in an area of mountains and desert. It was located 201 km (125 miles) southeast of the Iranian city of Zahedan and 250 km northwest of Turbat in Pakistan, USGS said. The epicentre of the quake was 86 km from the city of Khash, near Pakistan's border.

My heart goes to all the victims and their families and pray to almighty to give the families of the victims the courage and the strength to withstand this calamity.