Earthquake jolts Islamabad, Lahore and suburban areas

ISLAMABAD: A strong earthquake jolted the federal capital Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar and its suburban parts on Tuesday evening, however, no casualties or damages were reported so far, ARY News reported.

Tremors felt in various cities for 10 seconds including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Peshawar, Pasrur, Jhelum, Kot Momin, Murree, Kala Bagh, Sangla Hills and many others where citizens came out of their houses and offices.

The areas are also affected by the tremors include Khyber, Abbottabad, Sukeli, Gujrat, Chiniot, Sargodha, Zafarwal, Shahkot, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Swat, Mardan, Okara, Buner, Faisalabad, Swabi, Phalia, Sarai Alamgir, Shakargarh, Noorpur Thal and Kasur.

The quake also hit some urban and rural parts of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) including Muzaffarabad and Kotli , whereas, tremors also felt in Nankana Sahib, Quaidabad, Daska, Jaranwala, Shangla, Bajaur, Toba Tek Singh, Mandi Bahauddin, Tandlianwala, Upper Dir, Malakand, Mansehra, Balakot and Skardu.

According to the Met Department, the magnitude of the earthquake was 5.8 on the Richter Scale and its epicentre was five kilometres away from Jhelum in the northern region while its depth was 10 kilometres inside the land.

Following the intensity of the quake, the aviation authorities have stopped aircraft to take flight as precautionary measures at the Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore.

The reports from AJK’s Mirpur stated that deep cracks emerged on roads near the Jatlan Canal and several cars were overturned into it.

In another incident, a building in AJK’s Mirpur collapsed and various citizens received severe wounds which are being shifted to the nearby hospital, deputy commissioner told media.

The provider of real-time earthquake info, Independent Scientific Organization’s CSEM EMSC, stated on its website that a 5.9 magnitude earthquake hits the parts of Pakistan today, which was 23 km away from northeast Jhelum and 89 km away from Rawalpindi’s south-east part.

In a Twitter message, the experts said that the intensity of the earthquake was 5.5M which strikes 81 km southeast of Rawalpindi city.

M5.5 #earthquake (#भूकंप) strikes 81 km SE of #Rāwalpindi (#Pakistan) 19 min ago. Updated map of its effects: pic.twitter.com/Q5M7OgW4lc

— EMSC (@LastQuake) September 24, 2019

The reports from the US Geological Survey also confirmed the observance of an earthquake in Pakistan, stating the magnitude was recorded at 5.8.