By Agencies

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An earthquake felt across north India has shaken buildings and sent office workers running into the streets in the Indian capital, New Delhi, but there were no immediate reports of damage.

The US Geological Survey said the quake, which struck at 1:11pm local time (0741 GMT) on Monday, measured 5.2 and was at a depth of 19km, although Department of Seismology measured it at 4.9-magnitude.

"Nothing to worry at this moment," RS Dattatreya, the department's director, told the CNN-IBN television network.

The department said the quake centred in Bahadurgarh in Haryana state, about 50km west of the capital.

Buildings swayed for about 30 seconds in New Delhi’s central business district and many workers abandoned lunch and made for the stairs.

"A colleague and I were talking when we felt the earthquake. We ran down the stairs from our sixth-floor office," said Sonu Soni, 40, an employee with Cisco Systems Inc.

New Delhi sits near two seismic faultlines and just two weeks ago underwent its first major earthquake drill to prepare civil servants and hospital services for emergencies.