New Delhi, April 25

India's capital shook for nearly a minute as a massive earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale struck Nepal on Saturday.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the quake, measuring 6 in Delhi, had a depth of 10 km and its impact lasted up to one minute.

The earthquake struck at 11.41 a.m. India time, claiming 900 lives and leaving many bloodied in the Himalayan country. The epicentre was 77 km northwest of Kathmandu.

In India too, the quake killed 34 people. The maximum damage was reported from Bihar, where 23 people died. Three people died in West Bengal and eight in Uttar Pradesh. Nearly 14 repeat tremors were felt, the government said.

While no major damage was reported from across the capital, the quake jolted people and forced them to rush out of their houses and offices looking for safe havens.

Stuck in a massive traffic jam under a flyover in the capital, Upasana Chandra thought she was feeling unwell when she felt her car move even while the engine was off.

But before she could think any further, a swarm of people started running on the road shouting "earthquake, earthquake".

"I felt like my head was spinning, but with the people running around within seconds I knew it was an earthquake. Then I felt like I was trapped with no possible escape and looking at the quake's intensity I thought the flyover would fall," Chandra, who works in Noida, told IANS.

Like the 27-year-old corporate professional, many Delhiites felt the tremors that shook the capital and other parts of the country following the devastating earthquake.

Many rushed out of their offices across the city when they felt the tremors.

"I was in a meeting at work when all the television sets in my office started swinging! I think it was as bad a tremor as the one that was felt during the Bhuj earthquake in 2001. All of us ran downstairs and saw many others from our building already there," Dev Khanna, 31, told IANS.

Following the tremors, the Delhi Metro also first stopped train services from 11.42 a.m. to 11.52 a.m. and then due to the repeat tremors at 12.18 p.m. The services were again stopped from 12.18 p.m. to 12.23 p.m.

"Currently, trains are running perfectly fine," a Delhi Metro spokesperson said.

"I was in the Metro on a bridge between Pragati Maidan and Indraprastha stations when I first felt the tremor. The train was immediately halted as it was shaking really badly. I first thought that the movement was because of a train passing on the next track, but it turned out it was a massive earthquake," Jerin George, a 28-year-old advertising professional, told IANS.

According to Met chief L.S. Rathore, people died due to faulty building design.

"There has not been much damage (in Delhi). It is not the earthquake that kills, it's the faulty design and badly made buildings that kill people," Rathore told reporters when asked about the damage in the national capital due to the quake.

Homemaker Tara Singh, a retired school teacher, was cooking when the quake struck.

"The almirah, which has all my crockery, suddenly started rattling. I was really startled, but I didn't feel anything. It was when I looked outside and saw many people rushing out from the building, I realised that it was an earthquake."

Tarun Khanna, a marketing executive, said he was working on his computer when he heard the rattling noises. "It took me some seconds to realise it was an earthquake. It lasted almost a minute."

For media professional Gunja Deo, "today was the most perceptible earthquake that I ever felt in my almost five-year stay in Delhi".

Deo, who was at the Rajiv Chowk Metro station, said: "The tremors were so strong that I thought somebody was pushing me. I felt the ground moving, the platform timer was swinging and the name plate of the station was shaking.

"When my friend said it was an earthquake, some of the people started laughing at us. I prayed to god and grabbed my handbag to rush outside the station. While moving out, I had to persuade some commuters to move out. They said the tremors have subsided and there was no need to move and panic," she said.