Earthquake shakes Lahore, Islamabad, other cities

ISLAMABAD: An earthquake jolted Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and other cities on Saturday night.

According to National Seismic Monitoring Centre, Islamabad, the magnitude of the temblor was 5.8 on the Richter scale, while its epicentre was located near Tajikistan and Afghanistan’s border.

The earthquake was recorded at a depth of 196 kilometres in the Hindu Kush mountain range.

Residents were reported to have rushed out of their homes in panic following the tremors; however, no damages or casualties have been reported so far.

Other cities include Bannu, DI Khan, Swat, Diamer, Chilas, Nowshera, Mansehra, Lower Dir, Dir Bala, Mianwali, and Malakand.

Meanwhile, strong tremors were also felt in India’s Delhi and its neighbouring areas.

According to NDTV, tremors were felt in many areas of northern India, especially in some areas of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and Punjab.

Natural disasters such as earthquakes are not uncommon in Pakistan, as the country is situated on the boundary of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates.

Large parts of South Asia are seismically active because a tectonic plate known as the Indian plate is pushing north into the Eurasian plate.

Recent earthquakes underscore the importance of disaster preparedness and mitigation measures.