4.4 magnitude earthquake hits parts of Punjab

4.4 magnitude earthquake hits parts of Punjab. A 4.4 magnitude earthquake rocked several cities in central eastern region of Pakistan on Thursday.

According to the seismological center, the earthquake struck at 4:38pm while its epicenter was 30 km southwest of Sargodha.

Hafizabad, Pindi Bhattian, Faisalabd, Nakana Sahib, Mianwali and Sarghodha are among the cities where tremors were felt. No damages have been reported so far.

Earlier this week, a strong earthquake jolted parts of South Asian countries including Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan late on Tuesday, with ten dead in Pakistan and over 150 injured.

Read more: 6.8 magnitude earthquake rattles many cities of Pakistan

The casualties and injuries were reported mostly in northwest Pakistan, KPK, as the epicenter of the quake was Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush region, Pakistan Meteorological Department said.

Residents were panicked as strong tremors were felt in major cities, including Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Charsadda, and Rawalpindi. Gujranwala, Sialkot, Chakwal, Kohat, and Gilgit-Baltistan areas, also suffered earthquakes.

Earlier, at least 19 people have been killed and more than 200 injured after a powerful earthquake shook large parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The 6.5-magnitude quake damaged buildings, triggered landslides and sent people running into the streets.

It struck on Tuesday evening, centred in a mountainous region in Afghanistan’s north-east near the border with Pakistan.

Tremors from the remote Jurm valley were felt as far away as India.

“It was a terrifying tremor. I had never felt such a tremor before in my life,” Kabul resident Khatera told AFP news agency after rushing out of her fifth-storey apartment.

Ten of the deaths were reported in Afghanistan. A child was among those killed in Laghman province near the country’s border with Pakistan, AFP reported.