Overview
- A widely felt quake struck on Friday night at about 10:04 pm local time, prompting residents across Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana to rush outdoors and evacuate buildings.
- The National Centre for Seismology logged a shallow M5.0 near Chamba at roughly 5 km depth while the USGS reported M4.9 near Kyelang at about 18 km and other agencies issued preliminary 4.3–4.8 estimates.
- Officials in both India and Pakistan reported no immediate casualties or confirmed structural damage and activated emergency services to carry out local inspections.
- Authorities warned of possible aftershocks and said survey teams would check remote and hilly communities where delayed damage or landslides can appear after an event.
- Seismologists note the Himalayan front is highly active and that shallow local quakes produce strong nearby shaking while deeper Hindu Kush events can be felt far afield, which helps explain why agencies' initial readings differ and why the tremor was widely felt.