New Delhi, Oct. 20: A moderate intensity earthquake of magnitude 5.3 with its epicentre in the heart of the Gir forest lion sanctuary in Gujarat’s Junagadh district shook parts of western India tonight.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the earthquake, which occurred at 10.49pm, was a shallow earthquake with a focal point about 10km below the surface.

“It was shallow and widely-felt and we have reports of shaking from parts of Maharashtra and Gujarat,” said Haldhar Shukla, director of seismology at the IMD, New Delhi. The epicentre, 21.2 north latitude and 70.7 longitude , was about 130km south-south-west of Rajkot, and about 150km south-south-east of Jamnagar.

District officials in Junagadh said preliminary reports from across the district indicate damage to a few walls and electricity disruption in at least one site.

“The first reports we have so far say walls have developed cracks or fallen in two of three places, and there was an electricity problem at Verawal,” A.M. Parmar, Junagadh’s district collector said over the phone.

Junagadh has a population of about 2.7 million people scattered across a few towns and 1030 villages.