DELHI, INDIA: A 4.0 magnitude earthquake struck Delhi early on Monday morning, February 17, at around 5:36 am, with its epicenter located beneath Jheel Park in the Dhaula Kuan area.
The National Center for Seismology (NCS) conducted an analysis and found that the earthquake’s sequence of events followed a northwest-southeast trending lineament.
This suggests that the seismic activity occurred along a fault line in this specific orientation, which could provide further insights into the region’s seismic behavior.
The earthquake, which was felt in Delhi, Noida, Gurugram, and Ghaziabad, was located at a latitude of 28.59 North and longitude of 77.16 East, the NCS added.
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Delhi earthquake epicenter tracked by over 30 seismic stations
The earthquake’s epicenter, located 10 km southwest of the Red Fort, was extensively documented by more than 30 broadband seismic stations deployed by the National Center for Seismology (NCS).
A historical analysis of seismic activity within a 50 sq km radius of the epicenter indicates that a magnitude 4.6 earthquake occurred on December 25, 2007, south of the current epicenter, within 6 km of Monday’s tremor.
This pattern suggests a seismically active zone with recurring stress buildup and release.
#Earthquake shook @Delhi at 05:36 am today.@TV9Bharatvarsh @BBCHindi @BBCsarika @indiatvnews pic.twitter.com/j9kKxLSyDz
— Jeet Sharma (@jeetsharma) February 17, 2025
“This suggests a normal pattern of seismic activity in the past that corroborated with the seismic activity since 1990 in the region, highlighting the presence of pre-existing stress conditions and interactions among several lineaments and faults present in the area that may have influenced the recent event due to sub-surface heterogeneities of weaker category like association of source rock materials with fluids and water from the past riverine and lacustrine formations beneath the source zone,” the report read.
Just Look at the Blast and Wave it was something else still thinking about it
— PaWaN (@ipawanmina) February 17, 2025
My Home CCTV video #earthquake #Delhi #भूकंपpic.twitter.com/cmbK9PPNhQ
The Jheel Park-Dhaula Kuan earthquake resulted from normal faulting, reinforcing the idea that hydro-fracturing is the primary driver of seismic activity of varying magnitudes.
Additionally, the epicenter is located near two significant regional faults: the Mathura Fault and the Sohna Fault.
Reports indicate that tremors in the epicentral region reached a maximum intensity of IV on the MMI scale, while areas within a 0-15 km radius experienced a minimum intensity of III on the same scale.
NCS report highlights energy release from source zone before 2007 earthquake
The NCS report emphasized that the shallow depth and intensity IV shaking resulted in noticeable tremors, prompting residents to evacuate buildings as a precautionary measure.
Regarding the event, the report stated, “The signature of today’s 4.0 magnitude earthquake is a good signature, as the rock materials of the source zone released energy prior to reaching its maximum credible past earthquake of 4.6 magnitude in 2007, which occurred in the same epicenter source zone. The shaking is intense due to the shallow depth of 5 km and the intensity IV.”
The NCS urges residents to remain vigilant and follow standard earthquake safety protocols. The NCS continues to monitor seismic activity in the area and will provide updates as necessary.
