Quake hits Afghanistan, tremors felt in north India

NEW DELHI - An earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale hit the Hindu Kush region in Afganistan early Saturday and tremors were felt in several parts of north India, including Chandigarh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, officials said.

“Earthquake tremors were felt at 12.51 a.m. They lasted for 55 to 59 seconds. The quake was of moderate intensity,” an official of the meteorological department in Chandigarh told IANS.

“Mild tremors were felt in several parts of north India due to its proximity to Afghanistan,” Shimla meteorological office director Manmohan Singh said.

The intensity of tremors was more in Jammu and Kashmir, compared to other areas, due to its proximity to Afghanistan.

However, no loss of life or damage to property was reported from any part of north India.

The quake was also felt in Pakistan’s Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar and other cities in the northwest Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces, said Pakistan’s meteorology office.

The temblor occurred in Afghanistan at a depth of 199.7 km. Its epicentre was 75 km south-southeast of Faizabad in Afghanistan and 115 km northwest of Chitral in Pakistan, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.