By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck parts of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Friday, the Pakistan Meteorological Department said, with tremors felt across several districts but no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
The quake hit at 6:09 p.m. local time (1309 GMT) at a depth of 101 km, with its epicentre in Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush region, according to the department. Tremors were felt in districts including Shangla, Swat, Mardan, Swabi, Nowshera, Malakand, Lower Dir, Hangu, Kohat, Bajaur, Buner, North Waziristan and Upper Dir, as well as in the provincial capital Peshawar and the federal capital Islamabad.
In Shangla, the earthquake occurred during Iftar, the evening meal when Muslims break their daily fast during Ramadan, prompting residents to rush out of their homes, according to accounts from the area. No casualties or property damage were reported from any of the affected districts, officials said.
Pakistan lies at the intersection of major tectonic plates – the Arabian, Eurasian and Indian – creating five seismic zones across the country and making earthquakes a frequent occurrence due to the convergence of multiple fault lines. The latest tremor follows a series of recent quakes in the region. Earlier this week, a magnitude 5.6 earthquake was recorded 86 km northeast of Balochistan’s Khuzdar district.
Last month, a magnitude 5.8 earthquake jolted parts of Pakistan, including Gilgit-Baltistan, Peshawar and adjacent areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In the same month, another quake of the same magnitude shook Islamabad and parts of the province. Pakistan has suffered devastating earthquakes in the past. The 2005 earthquake in Azad Kashmir killed more than 73,000 people and left millions homeless. Experts have long warned that the rugged terrain in Pakistan’s earthquake-prone areas poses significant challenges to relief operations, underscoring the need for enhanced preparedness in the face of ongoing seismic risks.
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