Shocks of earthquake with 5.8 magnitude were felt in Delhi and other parts of north India, including Srinagar, Jammu, Shimla and Chandigarh on Wednesday. The quake was epicentered at Jammu and Kashmir-Himachal Pradesh border.
'The quake happened at 12.27 p.m. and measured 5.8 on the Richter scale. The epicentre was near Kishtwar town at the Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh border region,' R.S. Dattatreya, director, Department of Seismology, India Meteorological Department (IMD), told IANS.
'It is a moderate tremor in Delhi and other northern regions. We ask the public not to panic,' Dattatreya said.
'The quake was 10 kilometres beneath the earth's surface...the possibility of aftershocks are very minimal for such a low intensity quake,' added L.S. Rathore, the IMD's director general (Meteorology).
'The maximum impact of the quake was felt in Doda and Kishtwar districts,' said an official of Met department, Jammu.
The earthquake was felt in parts of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana and Punjab for six to seven seconds causing panic among the people in some places.
Some reports of cracks in buildings and disruptions in communication system have also come from places like Bhaderwah, Doda and Kishtwar towns of Jammu region.
'We have reports of many buildings having developed big cracks while some mud houses in Chatroo, Thathri, Bhaderwah areas have collapsed,&q.