Friday, October 30, 2009

Moderate earthquake hits northwest Pakistan

Moderate earthquake hits northwest Pakistan
 

The tremors were felt in several northwestern Pakistani cities, including Peshawar, and the capital Islamabad, at 12:46 pm, chief of Pakistan's meteorological department, Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry, told AFP.

The quake's epicentre was located near the northwestern town of Parachinar, some 160 kilometres west of Islamabad at a depth of 10 kilometres, he said.

A tribal administration official in Parachinar said residents rushed out of their homes but there were no immediate reports of any damage or casualties.

The US Geological Survey registered the quake at 5.1, and said it was centred 87 kilometres southeast of the Afghan capital Kabul.

It was the second earthquake to jolt Pakistan in less than 24 hours. Late Thursday a 6.1 magnitude earthquake was felt in several Pakistani cities, but caused no casualties.

Northern Afghanistan and Pakistan are frequently hit by earthquakes, especially around the Hindu Kush range near the collision of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.

A 7.6-magnitude earthquake in northwest Pakistan and Kashmir in October 2005 killed 74,000 people and displaced 3.5 million.

 

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