Earthquake of 4.4 magnitude jolts Lahore, other parts of Punjab

• Residents of Kasur, Okara, Muridke also experience tremors.
• Quake measured at 4.4 on Richter scale, at depth of 12km.
• No loss of life and damage to property reported so far.

LAHORE: Parts of Punjab including the provincial capital Lahore were jolted by an earthquake on Tuesday.

Apart from the metropolis, tremors were also felt in Kasur, Okara, Sheikhupura, Muridke and Kamoke.

So far no damage or loss of life has been reported due to the earthquake measured at 4.4 on the Richter scale with a depth of 14 kilometres, as per the National Seismic Monitoring Centre. 

According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department, the epicentre of the quake was at a distance of 25 kilometres from Lahore.

Provincial Disaster Management Authority's (PMDA) director general has said that machinery and staff are on alert to deal with the aftershocks.

PDMA's provincial control room and district emergency operation centres across Punjab are on 24/7 alert, and earthquake damage can be reported on PDMA's 1129 helpline, the official added.

Earthquakes are a common occurrence in Pakistan, a country situated on the active boundary of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates. The Indian plate's continuous northward push into the Eurasian plate makes large parts of South Asia seismically active.

Recently, country's financial hub Karachi has been in the news for continuous tremors with its residents experiencing around 49 mild quakes last month.

According to Chief Meteorologist Ameer Hyder Leghari, Karachi's quakes were due to the Landhi Fault Line becoming active after several decades as it was going through a normalisation phase.

In May, a 5.3-magnitude earthquake hit Islamabad and parts of KP, including Mardan, Swat, Nowshera, Swabi, and North Waziristan. Its epicentre was also located in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan at a depth of 230km.

Before that, two more significant quakes impacted KP, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Punjab, and parts of Afghanistan.

On April 12, a 5.5-magnitude earthquake struck several cities across northern Punjab, KP, and the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, at a reported depth of 12km.

Cities in Punjab like Attock and Chakwal, and in KP such as Peshawar, Mardan, Mohmand, Swabi, Nowshera, Lakki Marwat, Lower Dir, Malakand, and Shabqadar, all reported experiencing the tremors.

Days later, on April 16, a 5.3-magnitude earthquake again hit several areas of KP, AJK, Punjab, and parts of Afghanistan.