Tremors of 5.9-magnitude earthquake felt in twin cities, KP: PMD

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) on Thursday night said that tremors of a 5.9-magnitude earthquake were felt in the twin cities and areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

A press release from the PMD said the quake originated at 9:56pm at a depth of 111 kilometres with its epicentre in the Hindu Kush region.

It said tremors were felt in Peshawar, Mansehra, Hangu, Abbottabad, Swat, Attock, Malakand, Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

State broadcaster PTV News said on X that the tremors “lasted for several seconds” and caused citizens to come out of their homes.

A statement from the Punjab Provincial Disaster Management Authority said it received initial reports of an earthquake from “all districts” of the province.

PDMA Director General Irfan Kathia said that the administration across Punjab was busy checking buildings and no damage had been reported so far.

“District Emergency Operation Centres across Punjab, including the provincial control room of PDMA, are on 24/7 alert. Damages due to earthquake can be reported on PDMA’s helpline 1129,” the statement said.

Today’s quake comes after the PMD said on Tuesday that tremors were felt in Peshawar, Mansehra and Islamabad after another earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan.

A PMD press release said the 5.4-magnitude earthquake had occurred at 5:30pm in southeastern Afghanistan at a depth of 22km with tremors felt all the way in Peshawar, Mansehra, Islamabad, Abbottabad and Swat.

Meanwhile, the US Geological Survey had reported it as a 5.2-magnitude earthquake 34km northeast of Jalalabad city in Nangarhar province.

The epicentre of the tremor was close to where a magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit Afghanistan late on Sunday night, devastating remote areas in mountainous provinces near the border with Pakistan.

The PMD had reported four more minor quakes on Tuesday: a magnitude 3 with the epicentre 24km northeast of Pattan at a depth of 46km at 7:10pm, a magnitude 4 in southeastern Afghanistan at 2:50pm at a depth of 97km, a magnitude 5.4 in China’s Xinjiang at 12:59pm at a depth of 10km and a magnitude 4.4 in southeastern Afghanistan at 12:25pm at a depth of 20km.