A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 5.9 struck Afghanistan, sending tremors across Delhi-NCR and several parts of North India, including Jammu and Kashmir and Chandigarh. The sudden shockwaves triggered panic among residents across North India as an earthquake hit the region. According to reports, the tremors, felt around 9.50 pm, were reported from multiple cities, including Delhi, Noida, Chandigarh, Ludhiana in Punjab, and Poonch, Srinagar, and Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir.

Reports suggested that the residents in high-rise buildings felt severe shaking, which lasted several seconds, with household items moving and shaking. “I was in the kitchen when everything started rattling. There was panic. We rushed downstairs,” said a resident of Noida’s Sector 74.

The epicentre of the earthquake was near Darawan at 71.01 degrees E and 36.52 degrees N, according to the National Centre for Seismology (NCS).

The earthquake’s impact was felt across Delhi-NCR, with residents rushing out of homes and office buildings. “The tremors were terrible, for a moment I thought it was something else, but when the bottle on the table started shaking, I realised it was an earthquake,” said a resident from Green Park.