Magnitude-4 earthquake jolts Quetta, Ziarat and surrounding areas

• Tremors felt across Quetta, Ziarat and nearby areas.
• NSMC says quake occurred at depth of 15 kilometres.
• No casualties or damage reported after earthquake.
  

QUETTA: A 4-magnitude earthquake jolted Quetta, Ziarat and surrounding areas of Balochistan on Saturday, the National Seismic Monitoring Centre (NSMC) said.

The NSMC, operating under the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), said the earthquake’s epicentre was located 37 kilometres northeast of Quetta.

The quake measured magnitude 4 and occurred at a depth of 15 kilometres, the seismological centre added.

No casualties or damage were reported immediately after the earthquake.

Last month, a 5.4-magnitude earthquake shook large parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Punjab.

The seismological centre had said the quake originated in Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush mountain range at a depth of 215 kilometres.

The tremors were felt across several districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including Peshawar, Swat, Buner, Hangu, Shangla, Kohat, Mohmand, Charsadda, Swabi, Mansehra and Abbottabad, as well as parts of Punjab, Islamabad and Rawalpindi. No casualties were reported.

Pakistan is prone to earthquakes due to its location along the boundary of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, where seismic activity is frequent. The country has experienced multiple devastating quakes in recent decades.