A magnitude 5.6 earthquake damaged homes and buildings and cracked roads Tuesday in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
At least 22 people were killed and more than 700 injured, the Associated Press reported. Most of the dead were women and children, Mushtaf Minhas, information minister for the region, said.
The quake struck at 4:01 p.m. local time about 2 miles southeast of the Mirpur district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was felt across much of northern Pakistan.
"We are supplying tents, food and other essential items to earthquake-affected people. We are facing a tragedy but we will try our best to ensure the rehabilitation of affected people as soon as possible," Minhas told AP.
At a village hospital near Mirpur, Dr. Mahboob Ahmed said 700 people were treated. Some were sent to the district's main hospital, where better health facilities were available.
An AP reporter said he saw doctors treating quake victims at open areas outside the main government-run hospital because of a shortage of beds.
Raja Qaiser, a deputy commissioner in the region, told AP that a main road near Mirpur was badly damaged, causing accidents and damaging buses and other vehicles. Giant cracks opened in the roads.
The temblor shook walls in Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, about 55 miles northwest of Mirpur. Residents in the capital were seen rushing out of multistory buildings.
Azad Jammu and Kashmir is the western portion of the Kashmir region, a disputed area claimed by Pakistan and India.
"I was sitting in my shop when suddenly the walls started swaying. I knew that it is a strong earthquake. The moment I came out of my shop, its roof caved in," one shop owner told Pakistan's Geo news channel as he stood in a street littered with debris of houses and nearby damaged shops. The shop owner was not identified.
Mohammad Arif, whose home was damaged in Mirpur, said when the quake hit, he started shouting to alert his family.
"God saved me. God saved all of my family members, but our home was partially damaged," he told Geo.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Arif Alvi in separate statements expressed their grief over losses caused by the quake.
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