6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes Tajikistan, tremors felt in north India

As per the US Geological Survey, the quake traveled large distances as it originated 92 km below the earth's surface.

The initial findings of the National Centre of Seismology (NCS), which falls under the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, suggested the earthquake's epicenter was near Amritsar and it originated merely 10 km below the earth's surface, enough to cause wide-spread destruction.

JL Gautam, the head of operations at NCS, admitted to TOI that there had been an error in identifying the epicenter as well as the magnitude.

"It took place at around 10.31 pm, following which tremors were felt through Afghanistan, Pakistan, and then northern India," he said.

The earthquake occurred in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region, a seismically active area.

In some areas, the tremors prompted disruption in the electricity supply but it was restored after a brief time. Panicked residents, naturally, rushed out of their homes.

A shopkeeper in Rajinder Nagar, Delhi, said, "At around 10:30 pm, I felt strong tremors. When I saw some people coming out of their houses in my neighborhood, I realized that it was an earthquake."

Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi's virtual interaction with University of Chicago students was disrupted.

A Class XI student in Chandigarh, Aditya, assumed someone was pushing his chair. While people came out on the streets in Amritsar, dense fog ensured their quick return.

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh tweeted last night that there had been no reports of damage in the state.

Meanwhile, former Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah revealed that he hadn't felt tremors this strong after the 2005 earthquake.

"I grabbed a blanket & ran. I didn't remember to take my phone & so was unable to tweet "earthquake" while the damn ground was shaking, (sic)," his post on Twitter read.

Tremors were also felt in Islamabad, Peshawar, and Rawalpindi in Pakistan.