Moderate intensity tremor jolts Kashmir

Srinagar, Feb 27 (IANS) A moderate-intensity earthquake Friday jolted Kashmir although no loss of life or property has been reported so far, an official said.

"A moderate-intensity earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale occurred at 3.29 a.m. today (Friday)," Sonam Lotus, director of the local Met Office, told IANS here.

He said the epicentre of the earthquake was in the Pakistan region.

Many residents in Srinagar city and some other places in the Kashmir Valley said panic gripped them as the tremor jolted them out of sleep.

"I felt as if somebody was rocking the bed before I realized it was an earthquake. I could not sleep after that," said Nazir Ahmad, 42, who lives in north Kashmir's Ganderbal district.

Kashmir is situated in an earthquake prone region where temblors have caused devastation in the past.

In October 2005, an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale killed over 40,000 people on the two sides of Jammu and Kashmir divided into Indian and Pakistan administered parts.