Nine earthquakes jolt Gujarat’s Rajkot in 12 hours, no damage reported

Parts of Gujarat’s Rajkot district experienced a series of earthquakes from Thursday evening to early Friday, with as many as nine tremors recorded within a span of 12 hours. All the earthquakes were classified as ‘micro’ or ‘minor’ on the Richter Scale, and no loss of life or property was reported.

The first tremor was felt at 8:43 pm on Thursday, while the last one struck at around 8:34 am on Friday. The strongest earthquake measured 3.8 in magnitude, while the weakest was recorded at 2.7. Four of the nine tremors crossed the magnitude 3 mark, causing brief panic among residents.

Some of the stronger jolts prompted people in parts of Rajkot district to step out of their homes as a precautionary measure. However, authorities confirmed that there were no reports of structural damage or injuries following the seismic activity.

The epicentre of all the earthquakes was located between 27 and 30 kilometres northwest of Upleta. Typically, seismic activity of this nature is more common in Gujarat’s Kachchh region, making the cluster of tremors in Rajkot district an unusual occurrence.

Experts from the Institute of Seismological Research in Gandhinagar said earthquakes below magnitude 4 are generally not a cause for concern. They added that while the frequency of tremors in a short duration needs examination, such activity is not highly unusual after the monsoon season, even though the region does not lie on a known fault line.