Delhi Metro services halted for 15 minutes As strong tremors jolted the national capital on Monday afternoon, the Delhi government immediately activated its disaster management teams. People frantically rushed out of their houses and offices as the tremors lasted for over a minute. The Delhi Metro services were briefly halted as a precautionary measure, leaving thousands of passengers stranded. Asking people not to panic, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the disaster management teams had been activated. “Please stay calm & do not panic. Disaster management teams have been activated,” Mr Kejriwal tweeted. An earthquake measuring 7.51 on the Richter scale, with epicentre in the Hindukush region of Afghanistan, rocked Delhi and the National Capital Region at 2.40 pm. “The latitude for the quake was 36.7 degree north and the longitude was 70.8 degree east,” an official with the seismology section of the Indian meteorological department said. No loss of life was reported from Delhi as people scurried out of the offices and residences due to high-intensity tremors. “A situation was panic gripped us in the afternoon due to strong tremors. People scurried out of their office buildings to the open places. We came back only after the tremors dissipated,” Vinay Kumar, who works in Connaught Place, said. The situation was the same in the residential areas as the people rushed out of their houses to parks or other open spaces. “I was watching television when suddenly I felt the earthquake and rushed out of my home along with my children. The tremors stayed for a long time and then intensified, forcing people out of their homes to gather in parks,” Malini Saxena, a resident of south Delhi, said. The quake also affected the telecom services in Delhi and NCR due to high volume of calls. “I was on my chair, and suddenly it started shaking. I rushed out. I was unable to make calls to my family,” Praveen Gupta, who works at a mall, said. He added that the situation turned chaotic suddenly as people started rushing out. Metro services resumed after a break of 15 minutes. Commuters complained that even after the services resumed, trains ran at a very slow pace and it took long for normal operations to be restored as a comprehensive safety check was undertaken. “Metro services were put on hold from 2.40 pm to 2.55 pm in view of the earthquake. Thereafter, train services were brought to normal routine after ensuring safety check of the structures,” a senior DMRC official said. The official said that train services were stopped as per standard procedure and that extensive safety check was part of the same. “We looked for possible derailments or damages to station structures. Every major component was looked at,” the official said. Many commuters were stuck inside the trains when the Metro services were halted. “I was stranded in the train for 15 minutes,” Nitin Jain, a commuter at the Akshardham Temple Metro Station in east Delhi, said. Nearly 27 lakh passengers use the Metro services daily, which connects several pockets of Delhi with major NCR settlements such as Gurgaon, Noida and Faridabad.