India, New Delhi: A powerful 6.8 magnitude quake has rocked north India including Chandigarh, Kashmir and other areas in region; the tremors continued for at least 4-5 minutes — the initial tremor felt was at 4.01 pm.An earthquake struck the Hindukush region in northern Afghanistan in the afternoon Today, with strong tremors being felt through most of north India.

The epicentre of the earthquake was located 39 km west-southwest of Eshkasham town in Afghanistan, almost on the border with Tajikistan. The place is about 282 km north east of Kabul, according to the US Geological Survey. This is very near to the location of the 7.5 magnitude earthquake that had struck the region on October 26 last year. That earthquake was also felt very strongly throughout north and northwest India.

Today’s earthquake originated 210 km below the earth’s surface, a deep earthquake that is common in this area. Deep earthquakes travel very far, a reason why they are felt so strongly as far ahead as Delhi, about 1200 km away. The quake was also felt in Srinagar and elsewhere in Jammu and Kashmir besides Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The tremors hit Kabul hard, Xinhua news agency said. Pakistani media said the tremors were strongly felt in Lahore and other parts of Punjab province.

Delhi Metro had stopped its services due to the heavy intensity of the earthquake. The Metro authorities say that according to a pre-arranged plan, train services are stopped for 2 minutes and thereafter, when the services resume, train speed is reduced considerably. In Mohali, near Chandigarh, where IPL 2016 match is to be played, player Aaron Finch tweeted how the event played out where he is staying. He says the hotel where he is staying has been evacuated.