ISLAMABAD: A moderate earthquake struck northern Pakistan on Saturday, briefly shaking buildings in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad and prompting residents to step outside.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or significant damage.
“An earthquake originated on 12-04-2025 at 12:31 PST [Pakistan Standard Time],” confirmed the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) shortly after the tremors, adding that its magnitude was 5.5 on the Richter scale.
The PMD said the quake’s epicenter was located 60 kilometers northwest of Rawalpindi at a depth of 12 kilometers.
Pakistan sits on the boundary of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates and is prone to seismic activity.
The country’s northern and western regions are home to mountain ranges such as the Himalayas, Hindu Kush and Karakoram.
Pakistan also has some of the world’s tallest peaks, including K2, the second-highest mountain on Earth.
Among the most devastating earthquakes in Pakistan’s history was the 2005 Kashmir quake, which measured 7.6 in magnitude and killed more than 86,000 people.
In 2013, a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck southwestern Balochistan, killing over 800 people and flattening entire villages.
Magnitude 5.5 earthquake shakes northern Pakistan with no reports of casualties or damage
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Magnitude 5.5 earthquake shakes northern Pakistan with no reports of casualties or damage
- Pakistan is in a seismically active region, on the boundary of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates
- Pakistan witnessed deadly earthquakes in 2005 and 2013 that caused widespread destruction
Pakistani students stuck in Afghanistan permitted to go home
- The border between the countries has been shut since Oct. 12
- Worries remain for students about return after the winter break
JALALABAD: After three months, some Pakistani university students who were stuck in Afghanistan due to deadly clashes between the neighboring countries were “permitted to go back home,” Afghan border police said Monday.
“The students from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (northwest Pakistan) who were stuck on this side of the border, only they were permitted to cross and go to their homes,” said Abdullah Farooqi, Afghan border police spokesman.
The border has “not reopened” for other people, he said.
The land border has been shut since October 12, leaving many people with no affordable option of making it home.
“I am happy with the steps the Afghan government has taken to open the road for us, so that my friends and I will be able to return to our homes” during the winter break, Anees Afridi, a Pakistani medical student in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, told AFP.
However, worries remain for the hundreds of students about returning to Afghanistan after the break ends.
“If the road is still closed from that side (Pakistan), we will be forced to return to Afghanistan for our studies by air.”
Flights are prohibitively expensive for most, and smuggling routes also come at great risk.
Anees hopes that by the time they return for their studies “the road will be open on both sides through talks between the two governments.”
