6.4 magnitude earthquake jolts parts of country

ISLAMABAD: A 6.4 magnitude earthquake jolted various parts of Pakistan, including Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar and Murree on Friday night, ARY News reported.

According to the details, the strong earthquake rocked parts of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

The tremors were felt in Islamabad, Mirpur area of AJK, Murree, Lahore, Peshawar, Swat, Rawalpindi, Multan, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Gujranwala and other cities of the country.

The tremors were also felt in Abbottabad, Jhang, North Waziristan, Lower Dir, and Shangla.

Pakistan Meteorological Department stated that the epicenter of the earthquake was in Tajikistan and it had a depth of 80 kilometres. The earthquake originated at 10:02 pm and its magnitude was recorded at 6.4 on the Ritcher scale, it added.

An earthquake originated on 12-02-2021 at 22:02 PST
Magnitude : 6.4
Depth: 80 Km
Lat: 38.12 N
Long: 73.31 E
Epicenter : Tajikistan
PMD, Islamabad#Earthquake #EarthquakeUpdates #EarthquakePH

— Pak Met Department (@pmdgov) February 12, 2021

Amid the tremors, people rushed out of their homes in panic while reciting Kalma-e-Tayyaba and the verses of the Holy Quran in the areas.

In Faisalabad, local residents said that tremors lasted for 10-12 seconds and were felt strongly.

“We have no report of any casualty or damage so far,” said officials. However, the officials advised the citizens to be careful as the aftershocks of the earthquake were expected.

A spokesperson of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said that they were in contact with all the provinces and monitoring the post-quake situation across the country. He maintained that no loss of life had been reported so far.