ISLAMABAD, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- A 5.8-magnitude earthquake hit parts of Pakistan on Tuesday and has left seven people killed and over 100 others injured, according to local media.
Information Minister of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir Mushtaq Minhas told Xinhua that they are not in a position to assess the overall damage now, fearing that the death toll might further rise as several people are still buried under the debris in Mirpur district of the Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.
The worst-hit area was Jatlan town of Mirpur where several buildings collapsed and at least a two-km long road skidded into a canal, local media reported, adding that several vehicles moving at the road adjacent to a canal fell and drowned in the canal.
Civil and army rescue teams have reached the affected sites and are rescuing people and shifting them to hospitals. The minister said that rescue teams from the neighboring districts have also been summoned to the affected areas.
Pakistani army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa has required army rescue and medical teams to respond to the situation.
A resident of Mirpur named Talat told Xinhua that the intensity of the jolts was very high which forced them to rush out of their houses, adding that a wall of his house collapsed and damaged his car.
The eyewitness said that the majority of the houses in his neighborhood got damaged and serious cracks by the earthquake.
Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner of Mirpur Raja Qaisar told local media that a state of emergency has been declared in the area with an appeal to the public to be calm and offer help to affected people.
An official from the country's National Seismic Monitoring Center told Xinhua that its epicenter was determined 5 km north of Jhelum district located some 119 km southeast of Islamabad. The official added that the earthquake originated at 10 km in the earth, a situation quite vulnerable to create damages in the nearby areas.
The seismic center official added that an aftershock of 3.4-magnitude was also observed in 6 km north of Jhelum fearing that more aftershocks might come as the area is located at the fault line.
In a public message, the National Disaster Management Authority from Prime Minister's Office said that there are chances of aftershocks, requesting the people to take necessary precautionary measures to avoid possible losses.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is in New York to attend the UN General Assembly session, expressed his sorrows over the losses and instructed the authorities concerned to take quick and special measures to provide relief to the affected people.
Meanwhile, the earthquake hit parts of northern India, including Indian-controlled-Kashmir and the northern state of Punjab, Indian media reported, measuring it as 6.3-magnitude.
So far, there has been no reports of damage or life loss in India.
