Jolts from an earthquake of magnitude 5.2 were felt in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Chitral and Swat districts on Tuesday, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said.
Pakistan falls on three major tectonic plates — the Arabian, Euro-Asian and Indian — which create five seismic zones under the country. The intersection of multiple fault lines means that tectonic movements remain a frequent occurrence in the region.
Today’s quake, measuring a depth of 138 kilometres, originated in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan at 4:36pm, the PMD said in a statement.
According to the United States Geological Survey, the quake measured 5.1 and the epicentre was located 9km south-southeast of Afghanistan’s Yangi Qala district.
The development comes just days after a 4.3-magnitude earthquake was recorded in the Pattan tehsil of KP’s Lower Kohistan district.
Earlier this month, a 3.2-magnitude tremor was felt in parts of Karachi, with its centre 7km northwest of the Malir area.
Residents of KP witnessed tremors multiple times in September; once when an earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale hit southeastern Afghanistan on September 1.
Days later, a 5.9-magnitude quake jolted several cities of KP — including Peshawar, Mansehra, Hangu, Abbottabad, Swat and Malakand — along with Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
On September 26, a quake of magnitude 5.5 centred in Afghanistan sent its tremors to various KP cities, including Chitral, Peshawar and Swat.
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