KATHMANDU/DELHI: A strong earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale shook Nepal and several provinces in India, including the national capital, leaving a trail of devastation in the Himalayan nation.
The temblor that occurred at 11:41 am IST, with its epicentre in Nepal, flattened houses, caused huge craters and cracks on roads in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, and sent people scampering out of their offices and homes.
Videos showed people being pulled out of the rubble of collapsed houses in Kathmandu, though there was no official word on fatalities.
The US Geological Survey, which had earlier put the intensity of the quake at 7.5 on Richter Scale, revised it to 7.9. It said the quake hit at 11:56 am local time at Lamjung, a shallow depth of 11 kilometres.
Tremors were felt in several provinces in northern, eastern and northeastern parts of India, including national capital New Delhi, over 1100 kilometres from the Nepalese capital.
According to Indian Meteoroligical Department, tremors were felt in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab, lasting for a minute, triggering panic and forcing people to rush out of their homes and offices.
There was no official word about casualties from any of the states but reports from West Bengal said cracks appeared in several multi-storeyed buildings in Siliguri in north Bengal. An incident of wall collapse was reported from Telipara in Jalpaiguri district.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is keeping a close watch on the situation, spoke to chief ministers of Bihar and Sikkim.
"We are in the process of finding more information and are working to reach out to those affected, both at home & in Nepal," he tweeted immediately after the temblor hit several places in India and the neighbouring country.
Prime Minister Modi also spoke to the President of Nepal Ram Baran Yadav.
"PM is trying to reach Nepal PM Shri Sushil Koirala, who is abroad. He has spoken to President of Nepal Shri Ram Baran Yadav," the PMO tweeted.
Modi asked Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy to make a "quick" assessment of the damage caused due to the earthquake.
"The earthquake was felt in entire north India. More intense shocks were observed in eastern UP and Bihar. Equally, it was felt in sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Himalayan WB and Sikkim.
"Tremors were also felt in entire north India including Delhi, Jaipur, Dehradun and other cities," said L S Rathore, Director General of Indian Meterological Department.
He said that the estimated intensity of the first tremors felt in Delhi was 5 on the Richter scale and lasted about 50-55 seconds.
"After this earthquake there was an aftershock of 6.6 magnitude at around 12.55 pm, also around the same place and the depth (epicentre) is around 10 Kms," he said.
Rathore cautioned the people to remain alert as aftershocks follow big earthquakes.
"Even now, because it is a big earthquake and aftershocks follow big earthquakes, people should remain cautious. Whenever they feel any movement, they should be alert and come out of buildings because earthquakes of more than 7.0 magnitude have damage potential," he said.
An emergency meeting of National Crisis Management committee headed by Cabinet Secretary has been called.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said disaster response agencies are on full alert.
In view of the quake, the Indian Air Force has kept on standby its transport aircraft and helicopters and is awaiting further instructions.
Soon after the quake, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav announced immediate closure of all schools.
The chief minister also asked state Chief Secretary, the Director General of Police, and the District Magistrates and Superintendents of Police across the districts to assess the situation and immediately extend relief to the effected.
There were unconfirmed reports of children being injured after a wall collapsed at a primary school in Basantpur area of Barabanki while some buildings in Firozabad district developed cracks.
In Noida, adjoining the national capital, some high rise buildings developed cracks after the quake.
At some hospitals, patients and relatives were moved out after the quake struck.
In Rajasthan, the tremors were felt in Jaipur, Jhunjhunu, Ajmer, Sikar and Bundi.In Jaipur, people in Bapu Nagar, Barkat Nagar, Sodala and Jhotwara rushed out of their buildings in panic. However, no loss to life or property was reported.
Mild tremors were felt in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh this morning, but there were no reports of loss of life or damage to property.
Some people rushed out of their houses and office buildings.
"My home is located on the fifth floor. I was doing some work when I felt that my chair was shaking," said Prateek, who lives in Zirakpur in Punjab, on the outskirts of Chandigarh.
The tremors were also felt at places including Patiala, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Mohali in Punjab and Ambala, Karnal, Panipat, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Bhiwani, Rohtak and Kurukshetra in Haryana.
In Uttarakhand, the tremors were reported from Nainital and Pitthoragh. However, no loss of life or property came to light as yet.