A message claiming the national capital of India, Delhi being at a huge risk of experiencing an earthquake in coming days has gone viral on WhatsApp – in fact, the biggest earthquake in India! According to the message, American space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has warned inhabitants living in the city of Delhi getting hit by a 9.1 magnitude earthquake with epicentre of earthquake to be Gurugram (Gurgaon) in Haryana and NCR. This earthquake is most likely to rock the capital between April 7th and April 15th, 2018, reads the alarming WhatsApp message. Should one be really panicking over this message? No. It is yet another hoax spreading like wildfire on the messaging platform because miscreants have got no chill.

Let us have a look at the fake WhatsApp message about Delhiites to be hit by 9.1 quake recorded on Richter magnitude scale. It began with, “According to NASA, the biggest earthquake will hit Delhi soon. The Rector's Scale is 9.1 or may be 9.2. Date has not cleared yet, but it may occur in Between 7th of April to 15th April. Loss of life has declared in Lacs.”

It further reads, “The Centre of This Biggest rector's scale earthquake would be Gurugram. This is the 2nd time in World's History that huge loss of life and property has declared by NASA. This is biggest Earthquake may occur in Delhi NCR. Spread to all your relatives or friends who stay in Delhi NCR.”

The bogus message continues to pour in information by claiming the quake to affect areas near Delhi. “This earthquake will be the largest as it covers the areas like In India (Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, J&K to Tamilnadu, Rajasthan to Bihar. In Pakistan Rector's Scale would be 4-4.2 maximum. If possible move at least for a week from Delhi NCR. Govt will take action very soon on This to save life of People.” To make the message believable, it concludes it by attributing a source, “For More Details www.nasaalert.com.”

Why is this 9.1 Earthquake to hit Delhi a Fake News? If wrong sentences structure did not convince you of the message to be absolutely mindless, please check there is no such website as www.nasaalert.com. If you try visiting this fake site, it will lead you to a blank page with link http://www.alertsondemand.com/. The real website of NASA is www.nasa.gov and they have not issued any such warning about an incoming earthquake in India.

Another big reason, if not known to many of you that squashes this message completely is the fact that earthquakes cannot be predicted. Yes, scientists have tried several ways to predict earthquakes, but have not been successful so far. Valdivia earthquake or Great Chilean earthquake (Gran terremoto de Chile) is the most powerful earthquake recorded in history was the 9.4 magnitude that struck Chile on May 22, 1960.

It is no fun to firstly create such an awful message and spread it like a virus to create a panic situation all around. WhatsApp is a breeding ground for fake news, scams and hoaxes and it is high time we use our brains to put an end to the long chain of spreading misinformation.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 23, 2018 08:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).