Earthquake hits northern Pakistan, Afghanistan, India (Roundup)

Oct 23, 2009, 8:24 GMT

   Islamabad - A strong earthquake rattled northern Pakistan, Afghanistan and India Friday, killing five people and injuring several more.

   The quake had a magnitude of 6.2 to 6.4 on the Richter scale, and its epicentre was in the high-altitude Hindu Kush at a depth of about 180 kilometres, Pakistani authorities said.

   Pakistani broadcaster Geo News reported that frightened people were seen running into the streets of major cities, including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Lahore.

   At least five people died and several were injured in different areas of Pakistan's remote, mountainous, northern parts.

   A woman died of cardiac arrest while four were injured during the quake in the Saidu Sharif area of Swat valley. One more person was killed in Qambar area, the Geo television said.

   The earthquake triggered a landslide in the Mirpur region of Pakistan-administered Kashmir and demolished a house and killed three people. Three more were injured.

   The area was hit by a huge earthquake in October 2005. More than 73,000 people died while several hamlets in the mountain region were swept away.

   Buildings shook during the earthquake in Kabul, Arabic broadcaster al-Jazeera reported from the Afghan capital.

   The temblor also hit the Indian part of Kashmir, causing panic but no casualties or damage.

   Residents of the border town of Uri in Baramulla, 80 kilometres west of state capital Srinagar, rushed out of their homes and did not return for a couple of hours out of fear of aftershocks.

   The area had suffered extensive damage in 2005 earthquake, which claimed at least 1,300 lives.

   'Doors and windows rattled as homes swayed, but there was relief as soon as the earth stopped shaking,' a local, Rafiq Dar, said in Srinagar.