Second quake in two days shakes part of KP, Islamabad, other cities

• Tremors jolt Attock, Swabi, Zafarwal, Swat, Shangla,  Malakand.
• Murree, Mansehra, Battagram, Kohistan, Jhelum, AJK also hit.
• Follows a 5.4 quake in Islamabad and KP just a day earlier.
  

Strong tremors shook Islamabad, Rawalpindi, and multiple other areas shortly after midnight on Saturday as a 5.1-magnitude earthquake hit at 12:10am, the second to hit the region in two days, prompting residents to evacuate their homes.

According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department's National Seismic Monitoring Centre (NSMC) in Islamabad, the earthquake struck at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres.

The epicentre was located 15 kilometres southeast of Rawat.

Shocks were also reported in Attock, Swabi, and Zafarwal, as well as in northern areas including Swat, Shangla, Buner, Malakand, Mansehra, Battagram, Kohistan, and Murree.

Tremors were also felt in Jhelum and several towns across Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

No immediate reports of casualties or damage have been received so far.

A day earlier, a 5.5-magnitude earthquake had rattled northern Pakistan, shaking homes across several towns and cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. 

Seismic monitoring centres said the tremor originated in Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush region at a depth of 114 kilometre. The NSMC in Islamabad said the tremors were recorded at 2:03am.

Residents in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Azad Kashmir, Charsadda and Karak also reported feeling the quake.

According to reports, the jolts were noticeable in various localities of the federal capital. Tremors were also reported in Gujranwala and surrounding areas.

On June 11, a 4.7-magnitude quake hit Peshawar. A month earlier, a stronger 5.3 quake had shaken Islamabad and several KP districts, including Mardan, Swat, Nowshera, Swabi, and North Waziristan. Both quakes had deep epicentres in the Hindu Kush mountains.

In April, two more earthquakes hit the region. A 5.5-magnitude tremor struck on April 12, followed by a 5.3 quake on April 16. Tremors were felt in parts of KP, Punjab, Azad Kashmir, and the federal capital.

Pakistan sits on a major fault line between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, which makes earthquakes common, especially in the north.

Karachi, meanwhile, has seen unusual activity this year, with over 30 mild tremors reported in a few days. Experts link this to movement along the long-dormant Landhi Fault Line.