Near 6-magnitude quake hits northern India; no casualties reported

A 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck Uttarakhand on Monday night as tremors were also felt in Delhi, the national capital region (NCR) and several north Indian states.

The earthquake, epicentred in Uttarakhand's Rudraprayag, was felt across north India. However, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) and United States Geological Service (USGS) have located the epicentre close to Pipalkoti.

Details of human casualty and the extent of property damage, if any, were not yet known.

The tremors were also felt in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana and the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) has been put on high alert.

"The depth of the quake was 33 km and it occurred at 10.33 PM," J L Gautam, operations head at the National Seismological Bureau, said.

Television visuals showed panic-stricken people rushing out of their homes in Delhi and the NCR region as the quake struck amid the hustle and bustle of the late evening traffic.

In Chandigarh, chaotic scenes were witnessed at some places as the quake caused panic among the residents.

While in Dehradun, where the tremor was more severely felt, people were evacuated from their buildings at many places.

Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat has directed the chief secretary Shatrughna Singh to take stock of the situation. Rawat has also directed Singh to start immediate relief operations after measuring the impact of the earthquake from all district magistrates.

The union ministry of home affairs has sought a detailed report on the earthquake and tweeted, "Closely monitoring the situation in earthquake-hit Uttarakhand and other north Indian states where the tremors have been felt."

NDRF teams have been rushed to Uttarakhand, the home ministry added.