Strong quake rattles Kashmir; triggers panic among people

Srinagar, Apr 3 (UNI) A powerful earthquake struck Jammu and Kashmir this morning, triggering panic among the people, but there were no immediate reports of any casualty or damage to property even from those areas ravaged by a devastating 7.6 magnitude temblor on October 8, 2005 -- around the same time.

While an Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) office here said the quake measured 5.9 on the Richter scale, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the temblor was of 6.2 magnitude.

The epicenter of the quake at 36.9 degrees north latitude and 70.6 degrees east longitude, about 260 km northeast of Kabul in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan.

The tremors, lasting several seconds, were felt in many northern states of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan at about 0905 hrs (IST).

There were no immediate reports of any casualties or damage.

However, residents fled from their homes screaming in panic.

Soon after the strong tremors, the Army pressed its helicopters into service and sent these to Uri and Tangdhar, the worst-affected areas in 2005 killer quake, to assess the damage.

A defence spokesman said the choppers have returned and no casualty or damage to property reported from the two areas.

According to official figures, about 960 people were killed and more than 400 wounded in the Kashmir valley in 2005 temblor.

The border area of Uri in north Kashmir's Baramulla district was the worst-hit with 672 deaths while 273 people were killed in Tangdhar area of frontier Kupwara district.

As per the official figures, more than 25,000 structures were fully damaged while 1,85,000 partially.

The earthquake had then killed 73,000 people, mostly children, and left more than three million displaced across the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

UNI