Daily Times

Three children were injured in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Battagram district after two earthquakes jolted parts of the country on Sunday, officials said.

According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), the first earthquake of magnitude 6.0 – with its epicentre being the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border region – struck at 10:50am, at a depth of 223km.

The second earthquake of magnitude 4.7 was reported at 5:57pm. Its epicentre was near Jalalabad in Afghanistan and struck at a depth of 15km, PDM said.

Tremors were felt in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and several districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. While no casualties were reported, three children were injured in the Hado area of Batkol in Battagram.

Dr Muhammad Naeem, medical superintendent of the District Headquarters Hospital Battagram, told media that three children were brought facility earlier in the day.

Hamid Khan, the children’s uncle, said the siblings were playing on the roof of the cattle pen which collapsed during the earthquake. Meanwhile, the US Geological Survey, an American government agency that tracks seismic activity across the globe, said that a 5.2 magnitude earthquake had struck 35km southeast of Jurm, Afghanistan.

Hindustan Times reported that “mild earthquake tremors” were felt in New Delhi and its adjoining areas. The publication said that tremors were also felt in Punjab and Haryana, as well as in occupied Kashmir’s Srinagar and Poonch. In March, at least two people were killed while six injured as a 6.8 magnitude earthquake had jolted parts of the country.

The US Geological Survey said the quake rocked Afghanistan and parts of India as well, including the capital New Delhi, adding that the quake epicentre was 40 kilometres south-southeast of the Afghan town of Jurm.