ISLAMABAD: A strong earthquake with 6.2 magnitude hit many parts of Pakistan, including Islamabad, Bela, Quetta, Peshawar and Lahore, killing a minor girl and injuring 15 people.
National Seismic Monitoring Centre Islamabad said that the magnitude of the earthquake was 6.2 on Richter scale, while its epicentre was in Hindu Kachh region in Afghanistan with 169km depth. However, the United States Geological Survey recorded the quake’s magnitude at 6.1.
The tremors of the earthquake were felt in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Punjab, Northern Areas, Islamabad, Kashmir and India.
In Balochistan’s Bela town, a minor girl was killed and nine other people were injured when the roof of a house collapsed due to the earthquake. The quake’s intensity in Bela region was 4.9 and its depth was 23km, according to National Seismic Monitoring Centre Islamabad. Several villages in Balochistan felt the tremors of the quake. Emergency was declared in the hospitals.
In Peshawar, four minor girls suffered slight injuries at a school in Peshawar while rushing out of the building. They were rushed to Lady Reading Hospital for treatment, where their condition was stated to be out of danger.
Separately, two children were wounded when they were running out of a school in a village near Peshawar.
In Quetta, several buildings developed cracks. The panic gripped the city. However, no causality was reported.