Magnitude-5.4 earthquake jolts Islamabad, KP regions

ISLAMABAD: A 5.4-magnitude earthquake on Tuesday jolted Islamabad, Peshawar, Swat, and several parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Seismic Network of the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said in a statement.

The seismic centre reported that the epicentre was in southeast Afghanistan at a depth of 22 kilometres.

There were no immediate reports of damage from the latest earthquake.

The epicentre of the tremor was close to the site of a magnitude-6.0 earthquake that struck late Sunday night, devastating remote areas in mountainous provinces near the border with Pakistan.

The US Geological Survey reported the quake late Tuesday.

The toll from Sunday’s earthquake has continued to rise, with 1,411 people confirmed dead and 3,124 injured in Kunar alone, Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Tuesday, calling it one of the deadliest quakes to hit the country in decades.

Another dozen people were killed and hundreds injured in neighbouring Nangarhar province.

Afghanistan, one of the world’s poorest nations, has faced dwindling international aid since the Taliban seized power in 2021, undermining its ability to respond to disasters.

The devastation could affect “hundreds of thousands,” warned United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Afghanistan Indrika Ratwatte.

Rescuers worked through the night and all day to search for survivors in the rubble of homes flattened in Kunar, where more than 5,400 houses were destroyed, government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said on X.

Many of the worst-hit areas remained inaccessible by road, but emergency facilities were being set up, and multiple countries had pledged to send aid, Fitrat added.

The European Union announced it was sending 130 tonnes of emergency supplies and providing one million euros ($1.2 million) in assistance to victims of the deadly quake.