5.9-magnitude earthquake jolts twin cities, parts of KP

• Tremors strike Peshawar, Malakand, Bajaur, Dir.
• Quake jolts Punjab cities including Mianwali, Chakwal, Multan.
• Neelum Valley and Dhirkot in AJK also report tremors.

A 5.9-magnitude earthquake on Thursday jolted Islamabad, Rawalpindi, and several parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Seismic Monitoring Center of the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said.

According to the seismological centre, the quake’s epicentre was located in Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush region at a depth of 111 kilometres. 

Tremors were reported in Peshawar, Lower Dir, Upper Dir, Malakand, Bajaur, Mohmand, Shabqadar, Charsadda and Parachinar, as well as Nowshera, Hangu and Kohat. Shocks were also felt in Mansehra, Abbottabad, Swat and Attock.

In Punjab, jolts were experienced in Mianwali, Chakwal, Talagang, Kallar Kahar and adjoining areas, while Multan also reported tremors. In Islamabad and Rawalpindi, strong shocks prompted residents to rush outdoors.

In Azad Jammu and Kashmir, people in Neelum Valley and Dhirkot felt tremors.

No immediate reports of casualties or damage have been received.

Several quakes have hit the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, which lies at the intersection of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates.

In neighbouring Afghanistan, the death toll from a powerful earthquake that struck the country’s eastern part at the weekend rose sharply to more than 2,200, according to a new toll, making it the deadliest in decades to hit the country.

The vast majority of those killed in the magnitude-6.0 earthquake that jolted the mountainous region bordering Pakistan late on Sunday were in Kunar province, where 2,205 people died and 3,640 were injured, according to a Taliban government toll.