india

Updated: Sep 24, 2019 21:10 IST

Nineteen people were killed and more than 300 wounded after a strong 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck the Pakistan-India border region at about 4.31 pm on Tuesday, reported AFP.

The tremors that lasted for 8-10 seconds were felt in north India, including Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and the National Capital Region, Seismology Department officials said as well as major cities of Pakistan including Islamabad, Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Lahore, according to Dawn News.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from the earthquake in India, which IMD said, had hit at a depth of 40 km. But early reports from Islamabad indicated at least 50 people were injured in a building collapse triggered by the quake.

“The epicentre was near the India-Pakistan border. The closest big city to the epicentre is Rawalpindi (in Pakistan’s Punjab province),” said JL Gautam, head of operations at the National Centre for Seismology.

Earthquake of Magnitude:6.3, Occurred on:24-09-2019, 16:31:58 IST, Lat:32.9 N & Long: 73.7 E, Depth: 40 Km, Region: Pakistan - India (J & K ) Border region pic.twitter.com/tH6RDjGuxD — India Met. Dept. (@Indiametdept) September 24, 2019

“Really terrifying feeling because I was sleeping,” wrote a person on the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre’s website that asks people to report their experiences.

The earthquake revived memories of the October 2005 Kashmir earthquake. The 7.6 magnitude also had its epicentre in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and led to large scale devastation on both sides of the Line of Control. More than 73,000 people had died and about 3.5 million were left homeless by this earthquake.

In Pakistan, television channels showed footage of heavily damaged roads in Mirpur, with many vehicles overturned. Several cities including Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Skardu, Kohat, Charsadda, Kasur, Faisalabad, Gujrat, Sialkot, Abbottabad, Mansehra, Chitral, Malakand, Multan, Shangla, Okara, Nowshera, Attock and Jhang felt the tremor.

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the epicenter was 3 kilometres from New Mirpur city, the capital of Mirpur district and the largest city of the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.