Islamabad: A powerful 5.8-magnitude earthquake jolted north-eastern Pakistan on Tuesday, killing at least 26 people and wounding over 300 others.
Pakistan Meteorological Department's earthquake centre said the 5.8-magnitude earthquake was located near the mountainous city of Jehlum in Punjab province. However, Minister for Science Fawad Chaudhry said that the intensity of the quake was 7.1.
The depth of the quake, which occurred at 4.02 pm (local time), was at 10 kilometres, according to US Geological Survey.
Some houses collapsed in Mirpur following the earthquake, Deputy Commissioner Raja Qaiser said. Parts of a mosque also collapsed in the area. Emergency has been declared in hospitals.
TV channels showed the footage of heavily damaged roads in Mirpur, with many vehicles overturned. Several cars fell into the deep cracks on the roads. The building of the state-run Broadcasting House in Mirpur was badly damaged.
The quake was powerful and created panic as people ran out of building, eyewitnesses said.
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.
Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is in New York to attend the UN General Assembly session, expressed grief over the loss of human life. He directed all the concerned departments to provide immediate assistance to the quake-hit areas. President Arif Alvi also expressed deep sorrow over the loss of lives.
Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa directed "immediate rescue operation in aid of civil administration" for victims of earthquake. Army troops with aviation and medical support teams have been dispatched, the media wing of the army tweeted.
"Pakistan Army aviation helicopters have completed aerial survey for damage assessment in Mirpur, Jarikas and Jatlan areas. Army teams have reached earthquake-hit areas of Mirpur, Jatlan and Jarikas. Rescue efforts initiated," state-run PTV tweeted.
Lt Gen Muhammad Afzal, chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority, said that most of the damage was done in Mirpur and Jhelum.
He said all departments, including NDMA, Pakistan Army, and State Disaster Management have started rescue operation in quake-affected areas.
Afzal said Mangla to Jatalan road and three bridges were damaged in the quake. "We have enough resources to cope with the disaster," he said.
He said the exact magnitude of disaster will be known by Wednesday.
Pakistan's major water reservoir Mangla Dam located near Mirpur remained safe, officials said. Mangla dam power house has been closed, cutting off 900 MW power supply to the national grid, they said. However, Upper Jhelum canal was damaged and water inundated various villages.
Tremors felt in North India
The 6.3 magnitude earthquake with its epicentre near Indo-Pak border shook northern states, including the Delhi-NCR region, on Tuesday, the National Centre for Seismology (NCS) said.
There was no immediate report of any loss of life or property due to the quake which occurred at 4.33 pm along the Jammu and Kashmir region, officials said.
"The epicentre was near the India-Pakistan border. The closest big city to the epicentre is Rawalpindi (in Pakistan's Punjab province)," said J L Gautam, head of operations at the NCS.
People rushed out of their homes and offices in panic in several parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan.
"I was preparing for my semester examination when I suddenly felt my chair and table shaking. I immediately ran outside," said a 15-year-old student who resides on the 11th floor of a building in Zirakpur in Punjab on the outskirts of Chandigarh.
Tremors were also felt in Shimla, Mandi, Kangra, Una and other parts of Himachal Pradesh.