Residents rush out of their houses as earthquake tremors hit Delhi-NCR, in New Delhi.
Credit: PTI Photo
Strong tremors were felt in the national capital and adjoining regions as an earthquake of 4.0 magnitude struck the region early on Monday which triggered waves of reactions across social media.
Memes flood social media
In retrospect, at least some people can laugh about it now!
Sleep>Anything else
Delhi has had it!
Who needs scientific tools when we have a fan?
No way out for Delhiites
How did the leaders react?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people in the region to stay calm and follow safety precautions while staying alert for possible aftershocks.
Modi said in a post on X, "Tremors were felt in Delhi and nearby areas. Urging everyone to stay calm and follow safety precautions, staying alert for possible aftershocks. Authorities are keeping a close watch on the situation."
AAP leader Atishi said on X, "A strong earthquake just hit Delhi. I pray to God that everyone is safe."
Credit: X/@AtishiAAP
Resharing her post, AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal said he prayed for everyone's safety.
"Massive tremors were felt 10 minutes back in Delhi, woke us up from sleep. I hope and pray everyone is safe and sound," AICC national spokesperson Ragini Nayak said in a post on X.
The epicentre of the quake was in the Jheel Park area of Dhaula Kuan and there were some reports of people hearing a loud sound as the ground shook.
The National Center for Seismology said the earthquake struck at a focal depth of five kilometres at 5:36 am.
Shallow earthquakes, originating five or 10 kilometres below the surface, tend to cause more damage than those originating deep below the surface.
The Jheel Park region has been experiencing smaller, low-magnitude quakes once every two to three years. It recorded an earthquake of 3.3 magnitude in 2015, an official said.
A lot of people shared visuals from their homes and other places when the earthquake struck.
An X user shared a video of their CCTV camera shaking during the earthquake around 5:30 am in the morning.
Another video showed wires and tank pipes moving rigorously in Delhi, and even though the quake last only for a few seconds, people have described it as a "strong tremor".
How did people react?
The strong tremors triggered by the earthquake prompted residents of several high-rise buildings in Delhi, Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad to rush out of their homes.
A woman in her 50s who was out on a morning walk in E Block of Noida Sector 20 said, "'Hum log bahar park me walk kar rahe the toh pata nahin chala. Lekin kafi tej tha. Log bahar aa gaye. (We were walking in the park, so we didn't feel it strongly. But it was quite strong. People came rushing out)'."
Naresh Kumar, a resident of West Delhi, said this was the first time that he had experienced such a strong tremor.
Ratanlal Sharma, who was waiting at New Delhi railway station for a train to Prayagraj, said he was at the platform when he felt a sudden jolt. "It felt like a train suddenly came to a screeching halt," he said.
A resident of a high-rise in Ghaziabad said the tremors were so strong that everyone rushed downstairs in panic.
Anil Kumar, a resident of Sita Ram Bazar, said he never experienced such tremors before.
"When I woke up, I felt a strong vibration and got scared. My wife and I immediately woke our child up and rushed outside," Kumar said.
"I am a heart patient, so I panicked even more." he added.
Another Sita Ram Bazar resident, Sundar Lal, initially mistook the noise for monkeys on the terrace.
"At first, we thought there were monkeys on our terrace making noise but then we realised it was an earthquake, so we all ran outside," he said.
"It was a very strong earthquake, and we were all terrified. But thankfully it didn't last long," he added.
(With PTI inputs)