5.2-magnitude tremors jolt Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar

The residents of Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were jolted by an earthquake of 5.2 magnitude on Tuesday, the Met Office said.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said in a statement that tremors were also felt in KP's Mansehra, Swat, Chitral and Abbottabad, with no loss of life or property reported so far.

It said the earthquake occurred at 10:20am with its origin at the depth of 190 kilometres and epicentre in Afghanistan's Hindu Kush region. 

Today's tremors follow a 5.5-magnitude earthquake that struck northern Pakistan in the first week of August.

The tremors, back then, shook homes across several cities and towns of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

According to seismic monitoring centres, the quake had a magnitude of 5.5 and originated in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan at a depth of 114 kilometres.

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

The recent earthquakes are part of a series of tremors to hit northern Pakistan in recent months, most of them linked to the Hindu Kush region in Afghanistan.

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.