Garhwal Post Bureau
Bageshwar, 6 Feb: An earthquake struck the hill district of Bageshwar this morning. While the tremors were felt by many residents for some seconds, no loss of life or property has been reported. According to the National Centre for Seismology, the earthquake measured 3.4 on the Richter scale and occurred at 7.48 a.m. The epicentre was located at a depth of 10 kilometres beneath the surface.
When the tremors were felt in Bageshwar, many residents had already begun their morning routine and were engaged in daily activities. Several people did not even realise that an earthquake had occurred due to the mild intensity of the tremors. Bageshwar district is located about 196 kilometres from Dehradun.
Notably, the first earthquake of the year 2026 in Uttarakhand had also occurred in Bageshwar district. On 13 January, an earthquake measuring 3.5 on the Richter scale was recorded at 7.25 a.m. in the district. Subsequently, earthquake tremors were felt in Uttarkashi district on 27 January this year. The tremors were also reported this morning from Gonda in Uttar Pradesh and from several places in Sikkim, including Namchi, Mangan, Gangtok and Gyalshing. In Mangan alone, tremors have been felt seven times since morning, while Namchi has experienced four tremors so far today.
The National Centre for Seismology has also reported that earthquake tremors were also recorded in the neighbouring countries including China, Nepal, Myanmar, Bhutan and Tibet. Myanmar recorded an earthquake of 4.9 magnitude, while the intensity of the tremor in Tibet was measured at 4.5.
It is significant to note that the entire state of Uttarakhand now falls under Seismic Zone VI. The Bureau of Indian Standards updated the National Seismic Hazard Map towards the end of November last year. In the earlier seismic hazard map, the country was divided into four zones, II, III, IV and V. The revised map has added a new Zone VI. Under this classification, the entire Himalayan belt, stretching from Arunachal Pradesh to Jammu and Kashmir, has been placed in Zone VI from the earthquake risk perspective. This indicates a continued possibility of major or even destructive earthquakes in the entire Himalayan region. While the earlier map had five zones, the new map has expanded this to six. Earlier, only some hill districts of Uttarakhand were categorised under Zone V while Dehradun was categorised under Zone IV, but under the revised classification, the entire state has now been placed in Seismic Zone VI.
It may be noted that the new categorisation of the seismic zones has led to tightening of building bylaws in the state.
