No immediate reports of casualties or damage.
USGS says earthquake occurred around 3:30am.
Tremors felt in Musakhel and surrounding areas.
ISLAMABAD: A mild earthquake struck central Pakistan early Sunday morning. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the tremor measured 5.3 on the Richter scale.
However, the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) reported a slightly higher magnitude of 5.5.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from the shallow quake. The USGS stated the earthquake occurred around 3:30am local time (2230 GMT), with its epicentre located approximately 60 kilometers (37 miles) north-northeast of Barkhan, a city in Pakistan’s mountainous Balochistan province.
In contrast, the Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Centre reported the epicentre to be about 149 kilometers (92.5 miles) west of Multan. The GFZ noted that the quake had a shallow depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles).
Tremors were also felt in Musakhel and surrounding areas. According to another seismic monitoring centre, the quake measured 5.5 in magnitude and occurred at a depth of 28 kilometers. Its epicentre was located roughly 56 kilometers northeast of Musakhel district in Balochistan.
No injuries or structural damage were reported immediately. Authorities are continuing to monitor the situation.
Pakistan lies on the boundary of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, making it highly susceptible to seismic activity.
The region’s rugged terrain often complicates emergency response efforts. In 2015, a 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan, killing nearly 400 people and hampering rescue operations due to difficult access.
The country also experienced a devastating 7.6-magnitude quake in 2005, which killed over 73,000 people and left approximately 3.5 million homeless, mostly in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
More recently, in 2021, Balochistan’s remote Harnai district was hit by an earthquake that killed at least 20 people and injured more than 100. Landslides triggered by the quake further slowed early rescue efforts.