LUCKNOW: Two people were killed and half-a-dozen others injured in an earthquake that rocked many parts of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday, officials said.
A labourer was killed when an under-construction crematorium in Hamirpur collapsed while several other labourers were trapped in the rubble, an official said.
A girl was killed in Sambhal when her mud-and-thatch house caved in.
Two children were injured when a wall of their house collapsed in Ambedkar Nagar, officials said.
Cracks also appeared in the residence of the vice chancellor of the Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia University in Faizabad, forcing the official to work in the open.
A fire broke out in a house in Varanasi due to an electrical short-circuit during the quake.
Cracks appeared in many houses in Agra, Etawah, Varanasi, Barabanki and Kanpur also.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who was attending an event at his official residence, left the house immediately after the tremors were felt. He was whisked away to safety by his security personnel and the media persons were asked to go out in the open.
Many people ran out of their offices and homes in the state capital when the tremors began.
Lucknow District Magistrate Raj Shekhar has declared all schools to be closed till further orders.
Officials said the tremors were felt in Lucknow, Kanpur, Meerut, Jaunpur, Mainpuri, Shamli, Balia, Barabanki, Deoria, Jaunpur, Pilibhit, Ghazipur, Basti, Maharajganj, Azamgarh, Ghaziabad and Noida.