Islamabad, Sep 25.- At least 30 people were killed and more than 370 injured in the magnitude 5.6 earthquake that struck Punjab and Khyber-Pakthunkhwa provinces in Pakistan, according to disaster management authorities.
The epicentre of the quake, which occurred around 16:00 local time at a depth of only 10 kilometres, was near the town of Mirpur in Azad Jammu and Kashmir Province.
According to Shahid Mohyiddin, secretary of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir State Disaster Management Authority (AJK), the most affected areas were the city of Mirpur, a small village of Jatlan and the Manda and Afzalpur villages.
Other cities where the quake was felt were Islamabad, Lahore, Sialkot, Sargodha, Mansehra, Gujrat, Chitral, Malakand, Swat, Sahiwal and Rahim Yar Khan.
The number of victims is likely to increase as around 100 of the wounded were admitted to different hospitals in critical conditions.
Army troops have arrived in the earthquake-affected areas of Mirpur, Jatlan and Jarikas. Relief and rescue efforts are underway, according to a statement.
The President of the National Disaster Management Authority, Lieutenant General Mohammad Afzal, noted that trucks loaded in Islamabad with relief items, including 200 tents, 800 blankets, 200 kitchen utensils and 100 medical kits, will soon reach people affected by the earthquake.
The strong quake shook the region of India's capital. The tremors were felt in the Indian states of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir.
In October 2015, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake in Pakistan and Afghanistan killed nearly 400 people. Pakistan was also hit by a magnitude 7.6 earthquake on October 8, 2005, which killed more than 73,000 people and left 3.5 million homeless.