The first notable seismic activity to occur directly within Delhi in 295 years occurred early Monday when an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.0 rocked Delhi-NCR. At 5:36 am, tremors were detected in New Delhi, which was five kilometers below the epicenter. Thankfully, there were no reports of damage or injuries. Delhi is susceptible to future earthquakes because it is located in seismic zone IV.
Because the epicenter is located near the nation’s capital, the quakes shook areas of Delhi-NCR early on Monday, despite the earthquake’s magnitude of 4.0. The national capital’s earthquakes are related to the Delhi-Haridwar Ridge and the Delhi-Moradabad faults, which both have the potential to cause destructive earthquakes, in addition to the epicentre factor.
According to Ministry of Earth and Sciences research, Delhi has only seen two earthquakes to date, with the epicenter being in the nation’s capital. These earthquakes have occurred around 295 years ago. Even though the city has always experienced vibrations and has previously experienced damage from high-magnitude earthquakes that struck nearby Himalayan regions, it has mostly avoided widespread destruction. However, it is vulnerable to destructive earthquakes due to its placement on many fault lines.
In North India, seismicity:
The Indian and Eurasian plates colliding is what causes seismicity in North India, especially the Himalayas. This process has been ongoing for the past 50 million years. An earthquake occurs when the plate’s margin finally slips to unleash the energy that these clashing plates have been accumulating like a spring.
Since 1720 AD, there have been five known earthquakes in the Delhi UT or nearby that have had a Richter magnitude of 5.5 to 6.7. The Delhi region is traversed by two significant lineaments, the Delhi-Haridwar Ridge and the Delhi-Moradabad faults. Both of these lineaments have the capacity to produce earthquakes with a magnitude of up to Medvedev-Sponheuer-Karnik (MSK) scale VIII, making them highly likely. For these earthquakes, a normal depth of 30 km may be considered.
