An earthquake of magnitude 5.9 hit Afghanistan at around 10:19 am on Sunday, as recorded by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC). It reported that the earthquake occurred 70 km southeast of Fayzabad, Afghanistan. Tremors of the earthquake were also felt in Jammu and Kashmir as a medium-intensity earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale jolted the union territory on Sunday. According to ANI, the tremors were mostly felt in Srinagar and Poonch districts of Kashmir. However, there has been no report of casualty or damage to property, according to an IANS report.
The initial shock of the earthquake led people to run out of their homes and shops in panic.
The news agency quoted official sources and stated that medium intensity earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale occurred in J&K at 11:19 am at latitude 36.54 degrees north and longitude 71.13 degrees east.
"The epicentre of the earthquake was in the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border region and its depth was 220 kms inside the earth.
Mild tremors were also felt in parts of Delhi and other neighbouring areas, however, no damage or casualty was reported. According to an NDTV report, the tremors only lasted a few seconds and occurred at around 11:23 am. These tremors were also felt in many parts of Punjab and Haryana, including Chandigarh.
Kashmir is a seismologically highly sensitive area and in the past earthquakes have wrought havoc here.
On October 8, 2005 an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale killed over 48,000 people on the two sides of the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, two earthquakes rocked Palghar in Maharashtra the first of magnitude of 3.5 followed by a second measuring 3.3 on the Richter scale. These occurred at 5:15 pm and 5:28 pm respectively, the National Centre for Seismology said.