The memories of October 8, 2005 earthquake came fleeting by as people in the valley woke up to the tremors of a quake in Afghanistan Tuesday.
The tremor, which was felt for 12 seconds, came at around 9:14 in the morning, the same time when in 2005 the entire valley was shaken causing huge loss to life and property.
"We all got frightened so we went in the open field. Today's tremors came at almost the same time as in 2005, so I took my entire family to the safety," said Mumtaz Ahmed of Baramulla.
Traffic stopped at many places and people left their vehicles looking for open field fearing that trees might also fall.
"I was driving my car, when I saw trees on the roadside shaking. At once I thought it was an earthquake, so I parked my car on the roadside and ran towards an open field," said Tariq Ahmed Bhat, a resident of Khawaja Bagh, Baramulla.
However, no loss of life and property has been reported so far from any part of the valley following Tuesday's tremors, but people are still in a state of panic and have not entered their houses.
Baramulla district was the worst hit during the October 8, 2005 earthquake, when more than 1,400 people lost their lives. Almost all the structures were flattened in the frontier Tehsil of Uri after that earthquake.
Residents of Uri are still struggling with the aftermath of the earthquake as majority of the people there are still living in makeshift houses.
"We were lucky enough that we survived the 2005 earthquake, but Tuesday's jolt has once again proved that we are not completely safe," Ishfaq Ahmed Lone, a resident of Uri said.
"It was a powerful tremor. Almost the entire north India was shaken by the tremors. The epicenter of the earthquake was somewhere near the Hindukush mountain range in Afghanistan," an officer of the state metrological department told PTI.
"We can expect more aftershocks later in the day," he added.
© 2024 Rediff.com -