AMN /
Three people includin two women were killed while dozens of houses suffered partial to severe damage as earthquake of 7.5 magnitude hit Jammu and Kashmir on Monday afternoon.
Officials said Zoona Begum of Mohalla Mir Sahab in north Kashmir’s Baramulla suffered heart attack while she was moving towards a safer place during the earthquake that hit the Valley at around 2:40 pm.
They said another elderly woman, Fatima, 79, of AhangarMohallaBijbehara in south Kashmir died in similar circumstances. She was rushed to a local hospital where doctors declared her as brought dead.
Reports of damage to property due to the quake were received from Srinagar, Budgam, GanderbalAnantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam, Baramulla, Kupwara and Bandipora districts.
A teenager was fatally hit by a rock in Jammu region and two elderly women died of heart attack in Kashmir yesterday afternoon as massive earthquake hit the region. Several residents were injured, scores of houses, bridges and roads developed cracks and communication system collapsed temporarily in the aftermath of massive tremor. Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a telephonic call to Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed yesterday evening to enquire about the situation following the massive earthquake.
The Chief Minister directed the Divisional commissioners to monitor the situation and ensure immediate relief to the affected people. The authorities have also set up a control room at civil secretariat to monitor the situation. State’s Relief & Rehabilitation Minister Basharat Bukhari in a high level State Disaster Management meeting reviewed the situation in the wake of the massive earthquake. He directed the administration to collect information related to loss of life and damage to public and private property across the State.
Inspector General of Police, Kashmir Javed Mujtaba Gillani said that no fresh report of any quake inflicted death has been received till now. Reports said at least half a dozen individuals have received minor injuries. Reports of tremors have also come in from Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi NCR.
As tremors hit the Valley, people abandoned offices, business places and homes and ran out for safety.
Traffic came to a grinding halt in Srinagar city as vehicles started shaking abruptly.
Several people were seen reciting the verses of Holy Quran on road. In city center, massive traffic jams were witnessed after the quake, particularly from Dalgate to Batamaloo.
People at busy LalChowk—the commercial hub of the city—assembled in Pratab Park after the quake.
Most of the people were seen calling their relatives, but were not successful because of breakdown of cellular networks.
“The tremor reminded me of 2005 earthquake. We vacated the office and remained outside for long. It was terrifying,” said Shakeel Ahmad, a hotel manager in LalChowk.
Akhter Hussain, a business executive, said he thought it was the end of his life. “The quake was very scary. I have never seen such a quake in my life,” he said.
In Srinagar, traffic on Jahangir Chowk flyover was suspended after one of its joints was exposed due the quake, officials said. The traffic was restored on the flyover after half an hour.
The Crime Branch headquarters building, located adjacent to the flyover, developed cracks in the quake, an official said.
Reports from various parts of old Srinagar said scores of residential houses, mostly old ones, suffered cracks due the earthquake.
They said the minaret of the revered Shrine, Shah Hamadan Khaqah-e-Moula, near FatehKadal here also suffered some damage.
In central Kashmir’s Budgam district, a dozen houses have developed cracks in Surasyar area of Chadoora tehsil. Officials said the cracks are “minor.”
Reports reaching here from Ganderbal district of central Kashmir said residential houses in various areas developed cracks.
In Kupwara hundreds of houses developed cracks due to the massive quake. The cracks in houses have been mostly reported from border areas of Tangdhar, Keran and Kralpora.
Reports said two residential houses collapsed in Khudpare in Tangdhar, while one residential house in Teetwal and two other houses were severely damaged in Gabra area of Tangdhar in Kupwara.
“There has no loss of life or injury to anyone,” Senior Superintendent of Police, KupwaraAijaz Ahmad Bhat said.
Reports reaching here from Bandipora district of north Kashmir said dozens of houses suffered damage due the earthquake. However, Deputy Commissioner, Bandipora, SajjadHussain said “so far there has been damage to only one house.”
A vehicle suffered massive damage after a tree fell on it in Watergam area of Rafiabad in Baramulla district, reports said. No one was however hurt as the vehicle was parked, they added.
Anantnag , Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam residential houses developed cracks because of the earthquake. Reports from Anantnag (Islamabad) said AdilGulzarBhat of Khiramm, Anantnag, was injured after he jumped out of his two-storey residential house following tremors. They said eight residential houses and a health centre were also damaged due to tremors in South Kashmir.