New Delhi: Back to work after a long weekend, people in Delhi-NCR ran out of their offices this afternoon as two earthquakes hit the national capital back to back.
The epicentre of both earthquakes was in Nepal. The first hit around 2.28 pm and was its intensity was 4.6 on the Richter scale. The second hit at 2.51 pm. This one ranked higher on the intensity scale, about 6.2. It is the second quake that sent tremors through north India. The states where the tremors were felt included Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and the National Capital Region.
As soon as the tremors were felt, people started rushing out of offices across Delhi-NCR, including Gurgaon and Noida. Many took to social media to circulate videos of shaking fans and lights, and people stepping out of office buildings.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and his colleagues stepped out of their offices in Nirman Bhawan in central Delhi.
In many offices, sirens were sounded to alert staff so that they could vacate the buildings.
Tremors were felt in other parts of north India too, including Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow, about 500 km from Delhi, and Uttarakhand capital Dehradun, about 250 km away. News agency ANI shared videos of people leaving their offices in Lucknow after the tremors.