On Tuesday, parts of Punjab, including the provincial capital Lahore, experienced an earthquake. Tremors were also felt in Kasur, Okara, Sheikhupura, Muridke, and Kamoke.
The National Seismic Monitoring Centre reported that the earthquake measured 4.4 on the Richter scale with a depth of 14 kilometers. So far, no damage or loss of life has been reported. According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department, the epicenter of the quake was located 25 kilometers from Lahore.
The Director General of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) stated that machinery and staff are on alert to manage any aftershocks. The PDMA’s provincial control room and district emergency operation centers across Punjab are on a 24/7 alert, and earthquake damage can be reported on the PDMA’s 1129 helpline.
Earthquakes are a frequent occurrence in Pakistan, given its location on the active boundary of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates. The continuous northward push of the Indian plate into the Eurasian plate contributes to the seismic activity across large parts of South Asia.
Recently, Karachi, the country’s financial hub, has been in the news due to continuous tremors, with its residents experiencing approximately 49 mild quakes last month. According to Chief Meteorologist Ameer Hyder Leghari, these quakes in Karachi were attributed to the Landhi Fault Line becoming active after several decades, currently undergoing a normalization phase.
In May, a 5.3-magnitude earthquake struck Islamabad and parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), including Mardan, Swat, Nowshera, Swabi, and North Waziristan. Its epicenter was located in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan at a depth of 230 kilometers. Prior to 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 affected several cities across northern Punjab, KP, and the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, at a reported depth of 12 kilometers. 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 various areas of KP, AJK, Punjab, and parts of Afghanistan.
