Earthquake !

An earthquake hit Gurgaon today morning. I was having my morning cuppa when i felt a slight shaking sensation. Since i was having a terrible headache I thought - hey - maybe its just me. But then I looked at the coffee and it was shaking a bit - like the scene from Jurrasic Park - that's when I realized that it was a bhookamp . I have been in earthquakes before - and this felt kind of like a mild one.

The TV channels immidiately went on the 'Breaking News' mode and showed Congress leaders rushing out of meetings to the open grounds ... seemed kind of funny - which turned boring as every channel was showing the same shots again and again - some of which seemed quite contrived ( Sensationalism sells right ?).

But now the situation is clearing up a bit. The magnitude of this quake was 7.6 ( quite high ) on the Richter scale , and was epicentered in Pakistan.

CNN reports on it here .

The following image ( from bbc site ) shows the epicenter of the quake and the area of max damage .



North india is on a shifting plate ... the same which has created the mighty Himalayas - and as such more prone to earthquakes than the southern part of India. I don't think that this quake will create as great a loss as the Latur earthquake a few years back - as it did not last long. But the question that rises in my mind is this - with the umpteen number of high rises being made in and around Delhi - how many of those are built with earthquakes in mind ? Will these buildings and residential apartments survive a longer earthquake ?

Update : 19th Oct 05
National Geographic has an article on why the quake happened. Quote from the website :

Seismologists cannot say for certain whether the October 8 earthquake increased stress on nearby faults, making another major earthquake more likely.