The 6-magnitude earthquake hit several parts of the country, including Islamabad, Peshawar and Lahore.
Tremors were felt in several areas of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), the epicenter of the earthquake was in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan and the depth of the earthquake was 213 km.
Other towns that were shaken by the tremors include Punjab’s Sargodha, Khushab and its environs, Mandi Bahauddin, Bhakkar and Nowshera.
The earthquake was also felt in Muzaffarabad and Neelum valleys in AJK while KP cities include Peshawar, Kohat, Shabqadar, Abbottabad, Lower Dir, Mianwali, Mansehra, Battagram, Kohistan, Deerbala, Dera Ismail Khan, Hangu, Diamir, Parachinar, Bannu.
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“I was sitting in the office when the earthquake hit We had to rush out of the building,” 40-year-old Saeed Ur Rehman told from Lahore.
Natural disasters such as earthquakes are not uncommon in Pakistan as the country lies at the interface of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates.
Large parts of South Asia are seismically active as the tectonic plate known as the Indian plate pushes north into the Eurasian plate.
Recent earthquakes underscore the importance of disaster preparedness and mitigation measures.
