Earthquake of magnitude 5.8 kills 19, injures hundreds in Pakistan; tremors felt in Delhi-NCR

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A 5.8-magnitude earthquake shook northern Pakistan on September 24, killing 19 people and injuring 100, government and police officials told Reuters. Meanwhile, news agency AFP pegged the number of injuries at around 300.

According to the United States Geological Survey, the epicentre of the quake was 10 km south-east of New Mirpur, a town in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The area was the worst hit. Photos and videos carried by local media showed a collapsed building and cracks in roads large enough to swallow cars in Mirpur.

Mild tremors were also felt in the Delhi-NCR region today, according to several reports.

District commissioner Mohammad Tayyab said 19 people, including three children, were killed. District police chief Irfan Saleem said more than 100 people suffered injuries.

"I am in the hospital right now and I am being told that several of the injured people are in a critical condition," Saleem told Reuters by phone.

Major General Asif Ghafoor, a spokesman for the Pakistan Armed Forces, tweeted that army troops with aviation and medical support teams were dispatched.

"Thank God, the damage is confined to one particular area, and this one is pretty accessible from all sides," the chief of Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority, Lieutenant General Mohammad Afzal, told ARY News TV. "I can tell you right now that there is not a fear of a very big death toll."

The quake struck 14 miles (23 km) north of Jhelum, Pakistan, at a relatively shallow depth of 10 km, the USGS reported.

"Prime Minister Imran Khan expresses deep concern over the damage caused by the earthquake and directs all departments to provide immediate assistance," the Pakistan government said in a tweet.

Most of the damage was in an area between Jhelum and Mirpur, General Afzal added. Jhelum is located in northeastern Pakistan, roughly 120 km southeast of the capital Islamabad.

The last major earthquake in Kashmir happened in 2005, killing more than 80,000 people.