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At a Glance Most of the dead are women and children, a government official said.

Homes and buildings collapsed, according to news reports.

The quake struck about 4 p.m. Tuesday local time. A magnitude 5.6 earthquake killed more than three dozen people and damaged buildings, homes and roads Tuesday in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

At least 37 people died and more than 700 were injured, according to the latest update Wednesday.

Many residents in the hardest hit areas of Mirpur, a district in Pakistan-held Kashmir, spent Tuesday night in the open, afraid of aftershocks. Hundreds of homes and buildings were damaged in Mirpur, affecting thousands of people in the city of about 5 million residents.

Authorities said rescue work in areas hit by the quake was completed but the damage was still being assessed.

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<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/gettyimages-1171006176.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273" srcset="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/gettyimages-1171006176.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273 400w, https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/gettyimages-1171006176.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551 800w" > Pakistani residents walk amongst collapsed houses in an earthquake-hit area on the outskirts of Mirpur in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir on Sept. 25, 2019. (Aamir Qureshi/AFP/Getty Images)

The quake struck at 4:01 p.m. local time about 2 miles southeast of the Mirpur district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was felt across much of northern Pakistan.

"We are supplying tents, food and other essential items to earthquake-affected people. We are facing a tragedy but we will try our best to ensure the rehabilitation of affected people as soon as possible," Minhas said on Tuesday.

At a village hospital near Mirpur, Dr. Mahboob Ahmed said 700 people were treated. Some were sent to the district's main hospital, where better health facilities were available.

An Associated Press reporter said he saw doctors treating quake victims at open areas outside the main government-run hospital because of a shortage of beds.

Raja Qaiser, a deputy commissioner in the region, said a main road near Mirpur was badly damaged, causing accidents and damaging buses and other vehicles. Giant cracks opened in the roads.

The temblor shook walls in Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, about 55 miles northwest of Mirpur. Residents in the capital were seen rushing out of multistory buildings.

<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/gettyimages-1170772199_0.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273" srcset="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/gettyimages-1170772199_0.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273 400w, https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/gettyimages-1170772199_0.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551 800w" > A Pakistani man stands beside a collapsed building following an earthquake on the outskirts of Mirpur, Pakistan, on Sept. 24, 2019. (AAMIR QURESHI/AFP/Getty Images)

Azad Jammu and Kashmir is the western portion of the Kashmir region, a disputed area claimed by Pakistan and India.

"I was sitting in my shop when suddenly the walls started swaying. I knew that it is a strong earthquake. The moment I came out of my shop, its roof caved in," one shop owner told Pakistan's Geo news channel as he stood in a street littered with debris of houses and nearby damaged shops. The shop owner was not identified.

Mohammad Arif, whose home was damaged in Mirpur, said when the quake hit, he started shouting to alert his family.

"God saved me. God saved all of my family members, but our home was partially damaged," he told Geo.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Arif Alvi in separate statements expressed their grief over losses caused by the quake.

Information from the Associated Press was included in this report.

<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/gettyimages-1171035290.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273" srcset="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/gettyimages-1171035290.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273 400w, https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/gettyimages-1171035290.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551 800w" > 1 of 92 A view of a collapsed house a day after it was hit by powerful earthquake with magnitude of 5.8 the area in Jatlan town in the Mirpur District in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, on Sept. 25, 2019. Death toll from Tuesdays strong earthquake in Pakistani-administered Kashmir has reached 37, as rescuers backed by soldiers continued negotiating with collapsed roads and bridges, to reach remote areas in the tremor-hit region, local media and officials reported. (Chudary Naseer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

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