<p>Islamabad, Mar 21 (PTI): At least five people were injured when a powerful earthquake of 6.8 magnitude jolted parts of Pakistan on Tuesday night, sparking panic and forcing residents to flee homes, local media reports said.</p><p> The epicentre of the earthquake was Afghanistan's Hindu Kush region, while its depth was 180 kilometres, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department.</p><p> According to initial reports, tremors were felt in various cities, including Islamabad, Peshawar, Charsadda, Lahore and Rawalpindi.</p><p> Strong tremors were also felt in Gujranwala, Gujrat, Sialkot, Kot Momin, Madh Ranjha, Chakwal, Kohat and in Gilgit-Baltistan areas, local media reported.</p><p> Television footage showed panic-stricken citizens out on the streets.</p><p> At the time of the earthquake, a stampede was reported in the markets of Rawalpindi, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.</p><p> In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, at least five members of a family were injured after a roof of their house collapsed in Swabi, while Bahrain-Kalam Road was blocked due to landsliding caused by the earthquake, the report said.</p><p> Meanwhile, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has asked disaster management officials to remain vigilant to handle any situation, according to state-run Associated Press of Pakistan.</p><p> An emergency was declared in the hospitals of the federal capital on the instructions of Federal Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel, The Express Tribune reported.</p><p> According to the international seismological centre, apart from Pakistan, tremors were also felt in India, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, China and Kyrgyzstan.</p><p> Earthquakes are common in Pakistan.</p><p> A 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck Islamabad in January this year.</p><p> The deadliest quake hit the country in 2005, which killed more than 74,000 people. PTI SH AYZ ZH VM VM</p><p><i>(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)</i></p>
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