ISLAMABAD, May 10 (DNA):Tremors from a 5.3-magnitude earthquake were felt across Islamabad, Attock, parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the tribal areas on Saturday morning.
So far, no immediate reports of casualties or damage have been received. According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), the earthquake struck at 10:08am PST.
Its epicentre was located in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan at a depth of 230 kilometres. Coordinates were recorded at latitude 36.63 N and longitude 71.13 E.
Seismic activity was reported in Peshawar, Mardan, Swat, Nowshera, Swabi, Attock, and North Waziristan, among other locations.
Residents in these areas and surrounding areas reported noticeable tremors.
The seismic activity comes nearly a month after two earthquakes hit several cities across KP, Azad Kashmir, Punjab, and parts of Afghanistan.
The first earthquake, measuring a magnitude of 5.5, hit several cities across northern Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi on April 12, at a reported depth of 12 kilometres.
The epicentre for this earthquake was located 60 kilometres northwest of Rawalpindi, at latitude 33.90 N and longitude 72.66 E.
Cities of Punjab, including Attock and Chakwal, also reported tremors in the region. In KP, jolts were felt in Peshawar, Mardan, Mohmand, Swabi, Nowshera, Lakki Marwat, Lower Dir, Malakand, Shabqadar and other cities.
Days later, on April 16, a 5.3-magnitude earthquake hit several areas of KP, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Punjab, and parts of Afghanistan.
Tremors for this earthquake were reported in the KP areas of Malakand, Swat, Shangla, Chitral, Abbottabad, Mardan, Mohmand, Swabi, and Lower Dir.
In AJK, residents in Samahni and nearby areas also felt the shaking.
In Punjab, tremors were felt in the Zafarwal region.
Meanwhile, in neighbouring Afghanistan, an earthquake also struck the Hindu Kush region, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC).
The EMSC said the tremor had a magnitude of 5.6 and occurred at a depth of 121 kilometres. The epicentre was located around 164 kilometres east of Baghlan, a city with a population of roughly 108,000, according to the EMSC.
However, no casualties or damage were reported in the affected regions.
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 as the Indian plate is pushing north into the Eurasian plate.
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