Another earthquake measuring 6.4 magnitude jolted Islamabad, Faisalabad, Dir, Chitral, Hingo, Swat, Abbottabad and Lahore as well as other cities on Wednesday afternoon. An earthquake of 5.5 magnitudes on Richter scale hit northern parts of Pakistan including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Fata and Islamabad earlier on Wednesday morning.
This is the third time during the day that people have felt these tremors during the same day. People in malls, offices, and houses across the above mentioned cities have come out into the open spaces. According to Earthquake Track, 15 earthquakes have occurred in the past 30 days and 117 earthquakes in the past 365 days, as far as Pakistan is concerned. On January 31, an earthquake jolted Afghanistan, with tremors felt in neighbouring Pakistan. On April 4, a low-intensity earthquake jolted different parts of Loralai district, Balochistan.
On April 21 this year, Lahore and surrounding areas experienced a low-intensity earthquake. Tremors were felt in Lahore, Mureedke, Shahdara and Nankana Sahib.
Jolts felt in KP, Punjab, FATA, Islamabad earlier morning.
The jolted areas from the earlier earthquake include Peshawar, Swat, Dir, North Waziristan, Nowshera, Malakand, Mardan, Khyber Agency, Kurram Agency, Bannu, Kohat, Dera Ismail Khan, Abbottabad, Attock and Hangu, Charsadda and other areas abutting Pak-Afghan border.
Earthquake was also felt in Punjab areas including Mianwali, Bhakkar, Chiniot, Sargodha, Pind Dadan Khan and Toba Tek Singh. The epicentre was located near Bannu in KP, said a spokesman of Pakistan Meteorological Department while talking to Radio Pakistan. Its depth was recorded at 10 kilometres, he said. The U.S. Geological Survey put the magnitude at 5.1.
Officials say people fled their offices and homes in panic and were reciting verses from Islam's holy book. Teachers and schoolchildren also came out of classes.