Mild tremor hits north Gujarat; no casualty

A tremor of 3.4 magnitude hit north Gujarat in the wee hours of Saturday, the Institute of Seismological Research (ISR) stated. According to the district authorities, there was no report of casualty or property damage.

The tremor, with its epicentre near Vav in Banaskantha district, was recorded at 3.35 am, the ISR said in its latest report.

The Gandhinagar-based institute said the tremor was recorded around 27 km east-north-east (ENE) from Vav at a depth of 4.9 km.

Gujarat is a high earthquake-risk area and has suffered nine major earthquakes in the past 200 years, according to the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA).

The earthquake in Kutch on January 26, 2001, was the third largest and second most destructive in India over the last two centuries, according to the GSDMA.

A large number of towns and villages in the district had suffered almost complete destruction in the earthquake, which killed nearly 13,800 persons and left 1.67 lakh others injured.