A 6.8-magnitude earthquake rocked parts of Pakistan on Tuesday, killing nine people and injuring over 160. Local media gave this information.
According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department, the epicenter of the earthquake was in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan at a depth of 180 km. According to the department, tremors were felt in Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Quetta, Peshawar, Kohat, Lakki Marwat and other areas of the country.
According to local media, strong tremors were also felt in Gujranwala, Gujarat, Sialkot, Kot Momin, Madh Ranjha, Chakwal, Kohat and Gilgit-Baltistan areas. Television footage showed people taking to the streets in fear.
Officials said nine people, including two women, were killed and over 160 injured in earthquake-related incidents, Geo News reported.
According to the news of the newspaper ‘The Express Tribune’, there have been reports of stampede in the markets of Rawalpindi due to the earthquake. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif told disaster management officials to be ready to deal with any situation, according to the official news agency ‘Associated Press of Pakistan’.
An ’emergency’ has been declared in hospitals in the federal capital on the instructions of federal health minister Abdul Qadir Patel, The Express Tribune reported.
According to the International Seismological Center, apart from Pakistan, earthquake tremors were also felt in India, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, China and Kyrgyzstan.
Earthquakes are frequent in Pakistan. In January this year, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit Islamabad. The country was hit by the deadliest earthquake in known history in 2005, killing more than 74,000 people.
