India’s earthquake and tsunami in Delhi caused by landslides and mudslides: Experts

DELHI: Indian authorities on Thursday blamed a landslide in central Delhi for the deadly earthquake that killed at least 11 people, injured more than 500, and left hundreds missing.
The magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck just after 3 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) and was the deadliest to hit India since March 2011, when a magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck in northern India killing more than 100 people.
Indian officials said the landslide and mud slide in central Mumbai killed at at least two people, but did not say how many were killed by the collapse of the landslide.
India’s top seismologist said the earthquake was centered around a mountain ridge and that landslides in the area were the cause of the disaster.
The earthquake struck at a time when people are spending their time outdoors, said Nirmala Sitharaman, a geologist at the Indian Meteorological Department.
“The earthquake is centered in the Himalayas, and it is located along the western flank of the Himalayan range.
So it’s moving from the south, where the ground is moving and the ground itself is moving, into the north, where there is still some vegetation,” Sitharama said.”
So that is where landslides are located,” she added.
The collapse of a mountain wall in central Maharashtra’s Kutch district, on the other hand, was blamed for the deaths of more than 300 people in the city of Agra.
A magnitude 7-7,9.0 quake struck near the city and was centered in a mountainous region, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.
The agency said the death toll was likely to rise, but was expected to remain at around 100.
India has been hit by a series of quakes in recent weeks.
A series of large mudslide on March 3 in southern India killed at towing and clearing workers.
A series of small earthquakes followed a month later, prompting India’s government to declare a state of emergency.
A 6.9 magnitude earthquake in the eastern Indian state of Assam on Tuesday triggered landslides that killed over 500 people.
A 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck near Assam’s capital of Kolkata on March 5, causing a landslide and killing more people.
A 7.6 magnitude earthquake shook the state of Odisha in December, causing mudslopes in the state’s south.