Quake rocks Kashmir Valley

Srinagar, Jan 4 (IANS) An earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale rocked the Kashmir Valley early Sunday, jolting residents out of their sleep in panic.

'A 6.4 quake struck the Valley at 1.53 a.m. Sunday. The epicentre of the quake was located in the Hindukush region with latitude 36.5 degrees north and longitude 70.8 degrees east,' an official of the weather office here said.

There were no reports of damage to life and property.

'The tremor lasted several seconds and I was jolted out of my bed. Doors and windows produced a creaking sound,' said Bashir Ahmad, a resident of the old city area in the summer capital Srinagar.

A devastating quake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale had struck the two parts of divided Kashmir in October 2005 in which thousands of people were killed and an even larger number left homeless.