Earthquake of magnitude 4.9 strikes Indian Ocean

New Delhi [India], April 12 (ANI): An earthquake of magnitude 4.9 struck the Indian Ocean on Sunday morning, as reported by the National Center of Seismology (NCS).

Sharing the details in a post on X, the NCS said that the earthquake occurred at a depth of 10 kilometres.

"EQ of M: 4.9, On: 12/04/2026 08:10:38 IST, Lat: 1.806 N, Long: 94.924 E, Depth: 10 Km, Location: Indian Ocean", NCS said.

Shallow earthquakes are generally more dangerous than deep earthquakes. This is because the seismic waves from shallow earthquakes have a shorter distance to travel to the surface, resulting in stronger ground shaking and potentially more damage to structures and greater casualties.

On December 26, 2004, at 07:58:53 (local time), a magnitude 9.2-9.3 earthquake struck with an epicentre off the west coast of Aceh in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The undersea megathrust earthquake, known in the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake, was caused by a rupture along the fault between the Burma plate and the Indian plate, and reached a Mercalli intensity of IX in some areas.

The earthquake caused a massive tsunami with waves up to 30 m (100 ft) high, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami after the Boxing Day holiday, or as the Asian Tsunami, which devastated communities along the surrounding coasts of the Indian Ocean, killing an estimated 227,898 people in 14 countries, especially in Aceh (Indonesia), Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu (India), and Khao Lak (Thailand).

The direct result was severe disruption to living conditions and commerce in the coastal provinces of these and other surrounding countries. It is the deadliest tsunami in history, the deadliest natural disaster of the 21st century, and one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. (ANI)

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