Live: 7.7 earthquake strikes Afghanistan, tremors felt in Delhi

New Delhi : A 7.7-magnitude earthquake with its epicentre in Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush region rocked the Indian capital and several other cities on Monday afternoon, sending people rushing out of homes and office buildings. The tremors, which lasted several minutes, were also felt in areas around Delhi, parts of Jammu and Kashmir and as far afield as Kabul, Islamabad and Lahore. The US Geological Survey (USGS) put the magnitude of the quake at 7.7, almost the same as the massive temblor that hit Nepal in April and killed nearly 10,000 people.In most parts of Delhi, people rushed out of high-rise buildings in panic as the tremors continued for several minutes. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage to property in the national capital though people tweeted photos of buildings in Gurgaon that developed cracks. The quake in northeastern Afghanistan was 196 km deep and had its epicentre in a remote area of the Hindu Kush mountain range located 256 km from Kabul. Buildings were evacuated in Delhi and several other areas of northern India. The services of the Delhi Metro were suspended following the quake that struck at about 2.40pm.