4.4-magnitude earthquake jolts northern Pakistan, no damage reported

A 4.4-magnitude earthquake struck northern Pakistan on Saturday, a day after a stronger 5.9 tremor. No casualties or damage were reported. Recent quakes highlight the region’s vulnerability due to its location along active tectonic plate boundaries.

Islamabad: A 4.4 magnitude earthquake jolted parts of north and northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, the second tremor to hit the country in as many days.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The earthquake that struck at 9:30 am (local time) originated at a depth of 14 kilometres with its epicentre located 11 kms northeast of Burhan, Attock, according to the National Seismic Monitoring Centre, Islamabad.

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Tremors were felt in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well as in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The Saturday morning quake came less than 24 hours after a 5.9 magnitude temblor struck parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces, with tremors felt in several cities, including Peshawar and Islamabad, on Friday.

The epicentre of that quake at 6:09 pm (local time) was in Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush region at a depth of 101 kilometres. Earthquakes are common in northern Pakistan due to its location in the Himalayas, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.

Earlier, a 5.6-magnitude earthquake hit Balochistan province on February 13, but no loss to life or property was reported there either. Its epicentre was 86 kms northeast of Khuzdar town in the province.

The quake was preceded on the same day by another tremor of magnitude 3.8 that struck 75 kms southeast of Khuzdar at a depth of 33 kms. The worst quake the country suffered was in 2005, which killed about 74,000 people.