NEW DELHI: Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi was among many who were left in a state of shock after strong tremors were felt in north India due to a high-intensity earthquake that hit Tajikistan on Friday night.
When the tremors were felt, the Congress leader was virtually interacting with students of the University of Chicago. During the live session, Rahul was heard saying that his entire room was “shaking”.
At the time of the incident, the Gandhi scion was interacting with historian Dipesh Chakrabarty and political science students from the University of Chicago. A video has also surfaced where the Wayanad MP can be seen saying, “By the way, I think there’s an earthquake going on. My entire room is shaking,” he reportedly said.
A high-intensity earthquake hit Tajikistan on Friday night, tremors of which were felt in several other parts of north India, including Delhi-NCR. According to the National Centre for Seismology (NCS), the magnitude of the earthquake was 6.3 in Tajikistan. In Delhi, the magnitude was 4.2 on the Richter scale and the epicentre was in Rajasthan’s Alwar.
In Afghanistan, the magnitude was 7.5 on the Richter scale and the epicentre was Faizabad. According to the National Center for Seismology, the tremors took place at 10.34 pm (IST) at a depth of 10 km and 35 km SSW of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir.
The tremors created panic among people who rushed out of their homes. However, there were no reports of any loss of life or damage to property.Â
National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah said the tremors reminded the people of the 2005 quake in Jammu and Kashmir. “Not since the earthquake of 2005 have the tremors in Srinagar been bad enough to force me out of the house. I grabbed a blanket & ran. I didn’t remember to take my phone & so was unable to tweet ‘earthquake’ while the damn ground was shaking,” he tweeted.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal prayed for the safety of people. According to the Delhi Fire Department, no calls were immediately received for help.
