Shallow tremor rocks quake-hit area in Pakistan days after 38 killed

A shallow tremor sent terrified people running into the streets in northeastern Pakistan on Thursday, days after a powerful quake killed 38 people in the same area and destroyed infrastructure and roads. 

An AFP reporter in the city of Mirpur in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir described the ground shaking, while Pakistan's top meteorologist, Muhammad Riaz, said the epicentre of the 4.4-magnitude tremor was 12 kilometres (seven miles) deep.

"It's hell. I am running to save my life," Mohammad Bilal, told AFP moments after the tremor.

"I thought most of the building would have tumbled down," said Sagheer Ahmad. "Allah is very kind to us."

The US Geological Survey put the quake at 4.7 magnitude and 10 kilometres deep, adding that it had struck just four kilometres outside of Mirpur. 

City residents huddled in the streets, some still barefoot, others reciting verses from the Koran. Some patients were also evacuated from a nearby hospital.

The tremor came as rescuers continued to pick through toppled buildings to reach victims from Tuesday's earthquake. 

Pakistan straddles the boundary where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet, making the country susceptible to earthquakes.

In October 2015, a 7.5-magnitude quake in Pakistan and Afghanistan killed almost 400 people, flattening buildings in rugged terrain that impeded relief efforts.

The country was also hit by a 7.6-magnitude quake on October 8, 2005, that killed more than 73,000 people and left about 3.5 million homeless, mainly in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.