Pakistan earthquake: Locals flee into the streets as 5.9 magnitude tremor shakes homes and roads

PAKISTAN has been hit by a huge 5.9 magnitude earthquake, sending terrified locals fleeing onto the streets.

Tremors have been felt in cities across the country, including the capital Islamabad.

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Terrified locals fled their home in Islamabad, Pakistan, following the tremor[/caption]

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People stand on the street after the earthquake in Rawalpindi, in Pakistan’s Punjab province[/caption]

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Pictures show families pouring out onto the street in the aftermath of the quake[/caption]

The U.S Geological Survey put the quake’s magnitude at 5.9 on the Richter scale and centred 35 km (55 miles) west of Tajikistan in central Asia.

According to the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ), the quake struck at a depth of 86km.

Tremors were felt across the country including the capital, Islamabad, and northwestern Peshawar, and even as far as the eastern city of Lahore, which borders India.

No loss of life has been reported so far.

Cracks were also reported in some homes in northern Kashmir, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

A witness also told Reuters a wall had collapsed near the northern Indian city of Amritsar, but there were no reports of casualties.

And in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir, locals told Reuters that crowds of families had flooded onto the street in fear after the quake.

The Kashmir region had previously been devastated by an earthquake in 2005, which caused over 86,000 fatalities and left 2.8 million displaced.

Asif Maqbool, a resident of Muzaffarabad, told Reuters: “I thought it’s the same like what had hit us in 2005. My children started crying.”

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Residents gather outside a building in Islamabad following the quake[/caption]