A 5.5-magnitude earthquake struck near Islamabad and Rawalpindi on Saturday afternoon, with tremors also felt in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According to the National Seismic Monitoring Centre (NSMC), the earthquake occurred at 12:30pm, with its epicenter located 60km northwest of Rawalpindi at a depth of 12 kilometers.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) recorded the quake at a slightly lower magnitude of 5.0, with a depth of 39.2 kilometers. Despite the strong tremors, no immediate reports of damage or casualties have been reported.
In Islamabad, residents evacuated buildings and gathered outside after feeling the shaking. A separate 4.3-magnitude earthquake had hit the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border region about 35 minutes prior to the quake near Islamabad, with its epicenter at a depth of 88 kilometers.
Parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including Shangla, Swat, Mardan, Abbottabad, Haripur, Mansehra, and Kohistan, also felt the tremors from the earlier earthquake, which occurred at 11:54am. The tremors in KP and Islamabad were experienced at different times, as reported by Dawn correspondents.
Additionally, the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border region experienced a 3.8-magnitude quake at 11:26am, with a depth of 109 kilometers, according to the NSMC.
Pakistan has experienced several low-intensity earthquakes in recent weeks, with experts explaining that such seismic activity helps release accumulated energy within the tectonic plates, potentially preventing larger, more destructive quakes in the future. Pakistan lies on three major tectonic plates — Arabian, Euro-Asian, and Indian — creating five seismic zones across the country.
