Quake causes panic in J&K

The residents of Sultan Daki village near the border town of Uri in north Kashmir Baramulla district momentarily relived the nightmare of the horror they had faced in October 2005.

As an earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale struck Kashmir in the morning Tuesday, residents in Sultan Daki panicked.

Shafina Begum, the wife of Bashir Ahmad could not control her horror, she jumped out of the window and injured herself badly. Shafina has been one of the lucky survivors of the October 8, 2005 temblor which destroyed almost all standing structures in her village.

"She has been shifted for treatment to  the district hospital in Baramulla and doctors have said she is stable," said Basharat Ahmad Dhar, the Kashmir Divisional Commissioner who also confirmed there had been no report of any other casualty from anywhere else in the Valley.

Residents in 1.2 million strong summer capital Srinagar ran out of their homes and shops as the temblor started shaking structures.

School children also came out of their classrooms as parents started, making frantic calls to schools asking for the safety of their children.

Order was, however, restored after a few minutes as the tremor passed off quickly.

Local MET director, N.P. Bhatnagar said here, " The epicenter of the tremor was in the Hindukush region of Afghanistan. It measured 5.9 degrees on the Richter scale as per the summary analysis."