6.3-magnitude earthquake hits Pakistan

Islamabad, Jan 24(ANI): A major earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale jolted parts of Pakistan on Monday, the country's meteorological department said.

The tremors were felt in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Peshawar at 7.45 am for at least 10 seconds.

Severe tremors were also felt in Buner, Mansehra, Swat, Balakot, Malakand, Hazara division, Murree and certain areas of the Punjab province.

The epicentre of the quake was 95 kilometres southwest of the Karakul area of Tajikistan, the Dawn reported.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damages.

Earlier, on January 18, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 had hit southwestern parts of the country, including the cities of Karachi, Hyderabad, Quetta and Jaffarabad.

The quake was centred near the border with Afghanistan, about 34 miles west of Dalbandin, a town in a sparsely populated area of Balochistan province.

In 2005, an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale had killed about 80,000 people in northwestern Pakistan and Kashmir, and left over three million homeless. (ANI)