According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), a 6.8 magnitude earthquake that jolted parts of the nation on Tuesday claimed the lives of at least two people and injured six others. The earthquake’s epicentre was in the Hindu Kush region.
According to the US Geological Survey, the earthquake shook Afghanistan as well as parts of India, including the nation’s capital New Delhi. Its epicentre was located 40 kilometers south-southeast of the Afghan town of Jurm. According to an interim report from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Disaster Management Authority, eight homes were partially damaged in the province, resulting in two fatalities and six injuries from incidents involving roof, wall, and house collapses.
However, two people died and 150 were injured in the district, according to Swat District Police Officer Shafiullah Gandapur, who added that the injured were taken to Saidu Teaching Hospital for treatment. According to Radio Pakistan, PMD DG Mahr Sahibzad Khan claimed that tremors from the earthquake were felt throughout the nation, including in Islamabad, Peshawar, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Quetta, Kohat, Lakki Marwat, Dera Ismail Khan, and South Waziristan.
The National Disaster Management Authority and other institutions were told by the prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, to be prepared for any emergency. Major government hospitals in Islamabad will continue to be on high alert, according to a spokesperson for the Ministry of National Health Services. The alert was given to the hospitals at the direction of Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel, the spokesperson added.
The minister also gave instructions to the Federal Government Polyclinic and Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences administrations to make all necessary preparations in this regard. Witnesses told AFP that much of Pakistan on Tuesday night felt a powerful earthquake that lasted for at least 30 seconds. A correspondent in Rawalpindi reported that “people ran out of their homes and were reciting the Quran,” and similar accounts were reported from Islamabad, Lahore, and other cities across the nation. Following the quake shocks, residents were seen leaving their homes and other structures and walking on the streets in TV footage.
