Uttarakhand shaken by 4.9-magnitude earthquake

An earthquake of magnitude 4.9 struck Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Tuesday night, sending tremors across several parts of the state and Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR).

According to the National Centre for Seismology (NCS), the earthquake occurred at around 10:24 p.m., with its epicentre located in Chamoli at a depth of around 13 km below the earth's surface.

Tremors were reported from several districts across Uttarakhand, including Bageshwar, Pithoragarh, Champawat, Rudraprayag and Chamoli.

People in Bhowali, Haldwani, Khatima, Rishikesh, Gopeshwar and Badrinath also reportedly felt the shaking.

The tremors were strong enough to be noticed in parts of Delhi and the adjoining NCR.

The NCS confirmed the earthquake at around 10:40 p.m.

Before the official confirmation, several residents took to social media to ask whether others had experienced the tremors.

A resident of Safdarjung in South Delhi reportedly said that they felt their couch move during the earthquake.

The epicentre of an earthquake refers to the point on the earth's surface directly above the underground location where seismic energy is released due to movement within the earth's crust.

The intensity of shaking generally decreases as seismic waves travel farther from the source, although the impact can vary depending on the depth of the earthquake, local geological conditions and the direction in which the seismic energy travels, officials said.

It is also important to distinguish between magnitude and intensity.

Magnitude measures the amount of energy released by an earthquake at its source, while intensity describes how strongly the earthquake is felt at a particular location.

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake is generally considered moderate and may be felt over a relatively wide area, but the level of shaking and potential damage depends on several local factors, experts said.

According to officials, the latest tremors once again highlight the seismic vulnerability of Uttarakhand and the wider Himalayan region, which lies in an earthquake-prone zone due to the ongoing movement of tectonic plates.