Chamba: A mild earthquake measuring 3.0 on the Richter scale struck Himachal Pradesh’s Chamba district early Friday morning, according to data released by the National Centre for Seismology (NCS).
The tremor was recorded at 6:36 am on August 14, with the earthquake originating at a depth of approximately 5 kilometres below the Earth’s surface.
The NCS placed the epicentre at 33.131° north latitude and 76.585° east longitude, identifying Chamba in Himachal Pradesh as the location of the seismic event.
Shallow earthquake recorded
The quake was classified as a shallow seismic event because of its relatively low depth. Earthquakes occurring within 70 kilometres of the surface are generally categorised as shallow earthquakes.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), earthquakes can originate at depths ranging from the Earth’s surface to around 700 kilometres. For scientific classification, these are broadly divided into shallow, intermediate and deep earthquakes.
Shallow earthquakes occur between 0 and 70 kilometres, intermediate earthquakes between 70 and 300 kilometres, while events originating between 300 and 700 kilometres are considered deep earthquakes.
No major impact reported
The NCS shared the earthquake parameters through its official channels shortly after the tremor was recorded.
There were no immediate reports of major damage or casualties associated with the 3.0-magnitude earthquake.
Chamba and other parts of Himachal Pradesh are located in a seismically active Himalayan region, where tremors of varying intensity are recorded from time to time. The relatively shallow depth of Friday’s earthquake makes monitoring of the region important, although the reported magnitude was low.
