The quake’s epicentre was located on the outskirts of the vast metropolis, at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres (6 miles).

Last week, earthquake shocks were felt in Pakistan’s Islamabad and Rawalpindi as people rushed out of their homes. The quake’s magnitude was 4.8 on the Richter scale, the Pakistan Meteorological Department said.

The quake’s epicentre was 8km southeast of Rawalpindi with a depth of 17 kilometres.

While there were no immediate reports of significant damage, many frightened residents fled their homes as buildings swayed. In a social media post, police expressed their hopes for the safety of the city’s inhabitants and provided an emergency contact number for those in need.

Northern India sits along a significant geological fault line, where the Indian tectonic plate converges with the Eurasian plate, leading to the regular occurrence of earthquakes in the region.