Meanwhile, aftershocks of moderate intensity continued to rock the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
"Seventeen states, including the national capital, are rain deficient, while two states fall in the scanty rainfall category. The rest have witnessed good rainfall," IMD Director Dr S K Subramaniam said.
'Monsoon today advanced into remaining parts of coastal Karnataka and sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim,' B P Yadav, director, Indian Meteorological Department, said.
The epicentre of the earthquake lay in India-Pakistan border region of Jammu and Kashmir.
'The intensity and frequency of heatwaves will be much higher than in previous years over Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha.'
The aftershock recorded at 12.58 PM was had its epicentre at a latitude of 34.8 degree north and longitude 73.8 degree east.
The cyclonic circulation over southwest bay off south Tamil Nadu persists and now lies between 2.1 and 5.8 km above sea level.
Air services were disrupted for a few hours. Train services continued to be disrupted due to foggy conditions in north India, with as many as six trains cancelled and many delayed by several hours.
The Indian Meteorological Department stated on Friday that 75 such tremors have been recorded since the December 26 earthquake.
'The monsoon has stabilised over Kerala. It is no longer temporary,' Dr S K Subramanian of the Indian Meteorological Department said.
According to Indian meteorological department, tremors were felt in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab, lasting for a minute, triggering panic and forcing people to rush out of their homes and offices. There was no official word about casualties from any of the states but reports from West Bengal said cracks appeared in several multi-storeyed buildings in Siliguri in north Bengal. An incident of wall collapse was reported from Telipara in Jalpaiguri district.
Earlier on Tuesday, Odisha Special Relief Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Jena said that cyclone Asani is likely to reach Kakinada on the Andhra coast on Wednesday morning.
the Indian Meteorological Department's Mumbai observatory had issued a warning for rain and thundershowers in the city and suburbs beginning from Monday night owing to the cyclonic storm Ockhi which is 670 km south west of Mumbai
An NDRF team has a strength of about 45 personnel and each unit is equipped with tree and pole cutters, communication gadgets, inflatable boats and a small basic medical unit.
The monsoon is expected to reach Delhi around June 29, which is the normal date, but the national capital has already recorded 91mm rainfall, which is more than the normal of 55mm for June.
Normally, the monsoon hits Kerala on June one after which it spans the entire country up to Rajasthan.
The tremor, which measured 4.0 on the Richter scale, occurred at 0057 IST on Wednesday.
ISRO chairman S Somanath said the success gave the space agency "greater confidence," as the GSLV will be next deployed in the NISAR mission, a collaborative effort with the US' NASA.
It is expected to advance into coastal and south-interior Karnataka during the next two days.
This month has been the "wettest" March in northern and central parts of the country in the past 100 years, the Indian Meteorological Department said on Sunday, and predicted more rains in the coming two weeks.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the borewell in his house in Sadashivanagar in the state capital has gone dry for the first time. This happened despite the fact that Sadashivanagar is located next to Sankey Lake.
States are mandated to develop and implement 'heat HAPs' for prevention of heat-induced diseases. But most do not go beyond standard advisory on heat prevention.
An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale hit the Andaman Sea on Thursday but the Met department ruled out tsunami.
The graphic above shows the number of heat wave deaths in India each year since 1967.
Only 58 overs of play were possible on the first day as bad light followed by heavy showers stopped the proceedings six overs into the third session with India 224 for three.
The Indian Meteorological Department has said that that there has been a forecast for 'heavy to very heavy' rainfall across Konkan and Goa and it includes Mumbai as well.
India is likely to see above-normal rainfall in the four-month monsoon season (June to September) with cumulative rainfall rainfall estimated at 106 percent of the long-period average (87 cm), he said.
LIVE! Incessant rains: Red Alert in 5 Kerala districts
He said scientists have noticed a trend of very deep cloud systems developing over the southeast Arabian Sea, and added that sometimes, these systems intrude into the land, like in 2019.
This is the first cyclone in the Bay of Bengal this pre-monsoon season.
The IMD said that rainfall over India in August and September would be around 106 percent of the long-period average of 422.8 mm.
Monsoon rains are vital for 55 per cent of the country's farmlands that lack irrigation facilities.
"This year, the Southwest Monsoon is likely to set over Kerala on May 31 with a model error of four days," the India meteorological department said on Wednesday.
Mumbai, Thane and Palghar districts are on orange alert while Raigad district has been put on red alert due to Cyclone Tauktae, informed the Chief Minister Office (CMO) Maharashtra on Monday.
Mumbai civic body took to Twitter to inform citizens about the do's and don'ts and asked them to "stay hydrated and safe".
The health minister said the Centre has taken timely measures ahead of the summer season to address heatwave-related illnesses.
