7.2 Magnitude Earthquake Hits South China, Tremors Felt in Delhi

New Delhi: Delhi and NCR region were shaken by strong tremors as an earthquake of 7.2 magnitude on the Richter scale hit China’s Southern Xinjiang region on Monday night.

“Earthquake of Magnitude:7.2, Occurred on 22-01-2024, 23:39:11 IST, Lat: 40.96 & Long: 78.30, Depth: 80 Km, Location: Southern Xinjiang, China,” National Center for Seismology said.

According to sources, some houses were damaged and several were injured due to this earthquake in the region along the Kyrgyzstan-Xinjiang border.

Following this earthquake, the Xinjiang railway department immediately stopped operations of 27 trains. According to Chinese media, as many as 14 aftershocks of magnitude 3.0 and above were recorded near the epicentre in Wushi County in China’s northwestern region. The largest aftershock was 5.3 magnitude, about 17 kms away from the epicentre.

Chinese authorities initiated relief and rescue operations in affected areas.

In Kazakhstan, the same earthquake at a magnitude of 6.7 was felt. Inhabitants of Almaty in Kazakhstan came out of their houses despite cold weather because of the tremors. The tremors, followed by aftershocks about 30 minutes later, were also felt in Uzbekistan. No injuries or damages have been reported from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.