Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, experienced a mild earthquake on Wednesday. Initial reports from the Seismological Centre indicate the quake registered a magnitude of 4.7 on the Richter Scale.
The tremors were felt in Peshawar, and the epicenter was located in Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush mountain range, according to officials. The earthquake’s depth was recorded at 211 kilometers.
This latest tremor comes about a month after a stronger 5.3-magnitude earthquake shook Islamabad and several parts of KP, including Mardan, Swat, Nowshera, Swabi, and North Waziristan. That quake’s epicenter was also in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan, at a depth of 230 kilometers, with coordinates of 36.63 N latitude and 71.13 E longitude.
Prior to that, two more earthquakes had affected KP, Azad Kashmir, Punjab, and parts of Afghanistan. On April 12th, a 5.5-magnitude earthquake struck several cities across northern Punjab, KP, and the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi at a depth of approximately 12 kilometers. Cities in Punjab like Attock and Chakwal also reported tremors. In KP, the tremors were felt in Peshawar, Mardan, Mohmand, Swabi, Nowshera, Lakki Marwat, Lower Dir, Malakand, Shabqadar, and other cities.
Just days later, on April 16th, a 5.3-magnitude earthquake impacted areas across KP, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Punjab, and parts of Afghanistan.
Earthquakes are relatively common in Pakistan due to its location on the boundary of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates. Much of South Asia is seismically active as the Indian plate pushes northward into the Eurasian plate.
Recently, Karachi has also been in the news due to a series of persistent, mild tremors. Chief Meteorologist Aamir Haider explained that these quakes, which totaled around 30 in just a few days, were likely caused by the Landhi Fault Line becoming active after a long period of dormancy as it undergoes a normalization phase.
