Magnitude 6.3 earthquake shakes Central Asia • Noise source: Sparse mountain area • Buildings in India damaged • Kashmir resident: "The whole house is shaking"
Residents of Kashmir outside their homes during the quake
Photo:
AFP
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake shook eastern Tajikistan this evening (Friday), not far from the border with China.
The quake was felt throughout Central Asia, and reportedly in India - even in the metropolitan area of the capital New Delhi.
In India, more than 850 km from the time of the noise, two wounded were reported.
It is not known at this time if there are any victims of the earthquake, because the quake occurred at 22:01 Tajikistan time and in a mountainous and sparsely populated area.
According to reports in Central Asia, the quake was felt well across Pakistan: in the capital Islamabad, in Pashawar in the northwest of the country, and in Lahore which is close to the border with India.
Beyond that, the residents of Afghanistan, Nepal, and of course western China also felt it well.
Mosque in the capital of Tajikistan, Dushanbe / Photo: AFP
In India, several houses were reported to have been damaged in Kashmir province.
At the same time, a wall was reported to have fallen in the city of Emeritus in Punjab province.
"Our whole house was shaking and cracks were forming in the corner of one of the rooms," Kashmir resident Firdos Ahmad Khan told Reuters.
The epicenter was reported 35 kilometers (16 miles) west of the city of Mur'ab in Tajikistan. This city has a population of only about 10,800 and is located 86 kilometers from the border with Xinjiang province in China.
The focus is about 420 km from the capital Dushanbe, where the quake was well felt. In the Gorno-Badashhan Autonomous Region, where the quake occurred, only 226,900 people live on an area of more than 64,000 square kilometers.
