Raja Qaiser, a deputy commissioner in the region, said rescuers were still transporting victims to hospitals in the city, where an emergency was declared.He said a main road near Mirpur was also badly damaged, causing accidents and damaging buses and other vehicles.
TV footage showed damaged homes, shops and vehicles in Mirpur, where a breach at a main canal was submerging villages.According to Pakistan’s Meteorological Department, the epicenter of the 5.8 magnitude quake was located near the mountainous city of Jehlum in eastern Punjab province. The earthquake shook walls across the country and left people waiting in the streets fearing further tremors.Residents in Islamabad were seen rushing out of multistory buildings into the streets.Shortly after the tremor hit, Pakistan’s military dispatched troops and medical teams to the quake-affected area to assist civilian authorities in helping victims.Authorities said helicopters will also be used if needed to evacuate people from the earthquake-affected area.Some residents in Mirpur said shortly after the quake struck, they came out of their homes reciting verses from the Quran, Islam’s holy book.”I was sitting in my shop when suddenly the walls started swaying. I knew that it is a strong earthquake. The moment I came out of my shop, its roof caved in,” one shop owner told Pakistan’s Geo news channel as he stood in a street littered with debris of houses and nearby damaged shops. The shop owner was not identified.