Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand): A minor earthquake of magnitude 3 on the Richter scale occurred in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand early Thursday morning, officials said. No loss of life or injury has been reported in the incident. The National Center for Seismology while confirming the earthquake, said that the earthquake was recorded at 5:40 am today morning.
The location of the earthquake was 30.74 Latitude and 78.47 Longitude and the depth of the quake was 5 Km in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand, the NCS statement said. It is said that the the epicenter of the earthquake was in the forest area of Mando village near Uttarkashi district headquarters. As per officials, no loss of life or injury was reported in the incident.
Also read:14 earthquakes in Uttarakhand since January: Here is what experts say
The early morning tremors created panic among the locals who came out of their houses to move to safer places. Uttarkashi, the frontier district of Uttarakhand lies in Seismic Zone Five, considered highly vulnerable to earthquakes. The hill state frequently records earthquakes with tremors felt in the state on Mar. 21 and 4 in recent weeks.
An earthquake of magnitude 6.6 on the Richter scale was recorded on Mar. 21 in the state. The strong tremors were felt in Chamoli, Dehradun, Mussoorie, Uttarkashi, Roorkee and Haridwar. Tremors were felt thrice in Uttarakhand on Mar. 4. No loss of life or injury was reported on both the occasions. Last year, as many as 14 tremors between Jan. and the first week of Apr. with intensity ranging from 2 to 4.5 on the Richter scale were recorded in the hill state.
Geologists say that Uttarakhand is located on the Indian plate and Eurasian plate which is about 2400 km long with the Indian plate believed to be submerging 40 to 50 millimetres below the Eurasian plate every year thereby causing the earthquakes.
