5.5-magnitude earthquake hits Pakistan

Tremors were felt at 1017 am in several parts of northwestern Pakistan including Peshawar, the capital of northwest frontier province, a seismological department official said.

The epicentre was about 300 kilometres (185 miles) north of Peshawar in the remote Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan, and was registered at a depth of 187 kilometres, it said.

Residents panicked in some parts but there were no reports of any casualties or damage, the official said.

A 7.6-magnitude quake on October 8, 2005 claimed more than 73,000 lives, seriously injured nearly 70,000 people and left 3.3 million homeless in Pakistan. More than 1,000 also died in Indian Kashmir.