New Delhi (Gurpreet Singh): A powerful 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border region on Friday evening, April 3, 2026, sending strong tremors across Delhi-NCR and several parts of North India. The seismic activity, recorded at approximately 9:50 PM IST, triggered widespread panic as residents in high-rise buildings across Noida, Gurgaon, and Delhi rushed to open spaces. Tremors were also felt in major cities across Punjab, Haryana, and Jammu and Kashmir, including Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Srinagar, and Udhampur.
According to data from the National Center for Seismology and the USGS, the epicentre was located near Jurm in Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush region, at a significant depth of approximately 175 to 180 kilometres. The depth of the quake meant that while the shaking was felt over a vast geographical area—extending into Pakistan’s Islamabad, Lahore, and Peshawar—the immediate impact on infrastructure was mitigated. Residents reported household items swaying and windows rattling for several seconds, but there have been no immediate reports of casualties or major structural damage from either India or Pakistan.
The earthquake serves as a stark reminder of the region’s vulnerability to seismic activity originating in the Hindu Kush, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates converge. Local authorities in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab have advised residents to remain vigilant for aftershocks, although none have been reported as of late Friday night. Disaster management teams remain on standby to assess any potential damage in remote or mountainous areas near the border.
