5.5 Earthquake Jolts Kashmir

By Fayaz Wani

Srinagar, Sept 5: An earthquake of 5.5 magnitude on the richter scale jolted Kashmir on Friday.

An official of Meteorological department said that an earthquake of 5.5 magnitude on the richter scale struck the Kashmir valley at 1028 hours. He said that the epicentre of the quake was at latitude 36.1 degrees north and longitude 70.5 degrees east, which is in the Pakistan-Afghanistan region.
The earthquake shook the buildings and rattled the doors and windows for few seconds. However, there were no reports of any loss of life or damage to property.

The earthquake caused panic in Srinagar and other parts of Kashmir with people rushing out of their houses and offices.
"I remembered the October 2005 tremblor, which caused large scale devastation. I rushed out of my office and spend some minutes in open before returning to my chair," said Aijaz Ahmad, a banker.

It is pertinent to mention here that 7.9 tremblor struck the two parts of Kashmir in October 2005, killing more than 80,000 people and rendering thousands others homeless. Most of the damage was caused in the Pakistani controlled Kashmir.

Fayaz Wani reports on life in Srinagar, Kashmir.

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