The first law of Twitter is tweet now, think later. This seems to have been confirmed by the reaction to the earthquake that struck Delhi. Tweets streamed on, while Dilliwallahs should have been streaming out of their homes. But then a city that’s the center of Indian politics is pretty much used to calamity, so it tends to be a bit blasé about disasters, natural or in the corridors of power. But the twitterati also showed off their sense of humour. Here’s a sampler (not crediting individuals since we can’t be certain where each originated):

Home Minister P Chidambaram condemned the earthquake and pointed out that despite the best security measures taken by the Government, some quakes could not be prevented.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described the quake as a cowardly act aimed at destroying harmony between communities. He appealed to people to remain calm.

The Opposition parties, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, criticised the Government for its inability to prevent quakes.

Anna Hazare threatened to undertake an indefinite fast unless Parliament immediately passed a law to prevent future quakes. He has offered a civil society draft for the QuakePal Bill.

Digvijay Singh said that he suspects that Hindu terrorist groups could be behind the quake and pointed out that texts to his cell proved as much.

Rahul Gandhi will be visiting the quake.