Earthquake of magnitude 4.3 hits Gujarat, epicenter 270 km away from Rajkot

An earthquake of 4.3 magnitude hit Gujarat on Sunday afternoon, the National Center for Seismology said. The tremor was recorded at 3:21 pm with its epicenter some 270 kilometers north north west (NNW) of Rajkot, NCS tweeted. No casualties have been reported so far. Last week, three minor tremors were recorded in Gujarat’s Amreli district in two days, an official from the Institute of Seismological Research (ISR) had said.

Meanwhile, an earthquake similar in magnitude to the one that hit Turkiye is "imminent" in the fault lines of the Uttarakhand region and can happen "any time", chief scientist of seismology at the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), Dr N Purnachandra Rao, has warned.

The comments by the top scientist come in the backdrop of ground subsidence in Joshimath, considered the gateway Badrinath and Kedarnath, which attract lakhs of pilgrims.

Earthquakes of magnitude 8 and above are called "great earthquakes". "Turkiye witnessed a 7.8 magnitude earthquake," he said. "Technically, it cannot be called a great earthquake. But the devastation was high in Turkiye due to multiple factors, including poor quality construction." In the Himalayan region, which stretches from J&K to Arunachal, an earthquake of 8-plus magnitude is likely to occur, he said.