Quake shakes Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh, no casualties reported
Pithoragarh district magistrate, C Ravi Shanker, said that the first tremors were felt at 12.37 pm and lasted about five seconds while there was another tremor at 12.41 pm.
An earthquake, of magnitude 5 on the Richter Scale, shook Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district, bordering Nepal on Sunday, authorities said. No casualties were reported.
The epicentre of the earthquake was in Nepal but tremors were felt on both sides of the border.
According to Pithoragarh district magistrate, C Ravi Shanker, the first tremors were felt at 12.37 pm and lasted about five seconds while there was another tremor at 12.41 pm.
“The tremors were felt across the district but the area where almost all the residents felt them was in Dharchula as it is close to the epicentre which is in Nepal as per the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). Ghangolihat town was the place where it was felt the least,” he said.
The district magistrate said that the Incident Response System (IRS) has been activated soon after the incident.
“As often tremors of this magnitude come before a big earthquake, all the departments concerned have been activated by the district administration. Bulk messages have been sent to about 690 village pradhans and 30 zila panchayat members to alert residents of their area to be cautious. Apart from this, the administration is fully ready to handle any emergency situation,” he added.
According to the IMD, the earthquake occurred at a depth of 10 km.
