6.3-magnitude earthquake hits Nepal, tremors felt across North India
A series of earthquakes hit west Nepal while one occurred in the bordering Indian state of Uttarakhand on Tuesday night and early Wednesday. One of the quakes in Nepal with a magnitude of 6.6 sent tremors across North India, which were felt up to central Uttar Pradesh. No casualty was reported in India but a house collapsed in Nepal killing six people.
Why does this story matter?
Earthquakes above the Richter scale's level 6 are considered disaster-level and cause severe damage. It has been determined that the Indian tectonic plate is being subducted beneath the Eurasian plate at a rate of 5 centimeter per year. This is the cause of the formation and growing height of the Himalayas' young fold mountains, but it also makes the region vulnerable to earthquakes.
Pegged at 6.3 in India, Nepal's seismology center recorded 6.6-magnitude
Epicenter recorded at sparsely populated area
According to India's National Center for Seismology, the epicenter of the quake was recorded at Khaptad National Park in the western Doti district. The first earthquake of 5.7 magnitude struck Nepal at 9:07 pm on Tuesday, followed by another of magnitude 4.1 at 9:56 pm. The third and strongest earthquake of 6.3-magnitude occurred at 1:57 am on Wednesday.
Earthquake struck Pithoragarh on Wednesday morning
An earthquake of magnitude 4.3 was recorded in Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand at 6:27 am on Wednesday. The focus or hypocenter was traced 5 km below the ground. Tremors of the 6.3-magnitude earthquake in Nepal lasted for 10 seconds and were felt in Lucknow and Delhi National Capital Region (NCR), prompting people to rush out of their homes in the dead of night.
People rushed out in the middle of the night
Landslides damaged dozens of houses
Apart from the deceased — which included a woman and two kids, five people were injured in Nepal. Doti district officials said the earthquakes triggered landslides across the district which damaged dozens of houses. Nepal is still rebuilding since two major earthquakes killed nearly 9,000 people and damaged around 10 lakh structures, causing a $6 billion blow to the economy.
