SRINAGAR: An earthquake shook the ground in Kashmir valley at around 3 pm this afternoon, witnesses said.
Many people were seen frantically rushing out of multi-storey buildings and shopping complexes in Srinagar, the main city of the valley.
An official told Freepress that an earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale occurred in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Its epicentre was in the HinduKush region of Afghanistan, he said.
So far there are no reports of any damage in this Himalayan valley.
The HinduKush is an 800 km (500 miles) long mountain range that stretches between central Afghanistan and northern Pakistan.
Kashmir valley is situated in an earthquake prone region where devastating tremors have wreaked havoc in the past.
On Oct 8, 2005 a devastating quake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale killed more than 40,000 people on the two sides of the Line of Control that divides Jammu and Kashmir between India and Pakistan.
Seismologists have expressed fears about a possible earthquake in Kashmir, such intense that it may kill tens of thousands of people, in the future.
