ISLAMABAD, Oct 5: Three days before the third anniversary of the deadliest earthquake in the country, tremors jolted the twin cities of Rawalpindi-Islamabad, Gujar Khan, Jhelum and adjoining areas on Sunday creating panic among the people.

According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department, the intensity of the quake was 6.5 on the Richter scale and its epicentre was in the north of Peshawar, some 650km from Islamabad.

A seismic expert of the PMD said there was a possibility of aftershocks of the earthquake in many cities of the country.

The tremors reminded the citizens of the twin cities of the tragic scenes when one-and-a-half blocks of 10-storyed residential building - Margalla Towers - collapsed during the October 8, 2005 earthquake.

A total of 73 people were killed and over 85 injured in the catastrophe. The quake also hit many areas of the NWFP and Azad Kashmir killing about 73,000 people.

It may be mentioned here that the prime minister’s inspection commission had prepared an inquiry report into the alleged faulty construction of the building by its owner Ramzan Khokhar and Capital Development Authority (CDA).