ISLAMABAD: A magnitude 5.9 earthquake jolted several cities in northern Pakistan on Saturday morning, state-run media reported, with no reported casualties or damages.
As per the National Seismic Monitoring Center, the earthquake’s epicenter was the border region between Afghanistan and Tajikistan and was measured at a depth of 94 kilometers.
“The National Seismic Monitoring Center reported that the earthquake’s tremors were felt in numerous cities at 11:48 a.m. including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Sheikhupura, Abbottabad, Attock, Haripur, Mansehra, Peshawar, Nowshera, Mardan, Haripur, Swat, Chitral, Shangla, Malakand, Muzaffarabad and several other cities,” state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said.
As per the APP, alarmed citizens ran out of their homes and started reciting verses from the Qur’an after feeling the tremors.
“No loss of life and property was reported from any part of the country so far,” it added.
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.
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 5.9 earthquake jolts northern Pakistan with no reports of casualties
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Magnitude 5.9 earthquake jolts northern Pakistan with no reports of casualties
- Pakistan’s seismic monitoring center says quake’s epicenter was Afghanistan-Tajikistan border region
- Tremors felt in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Abbottabad and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s various cities
Pakistan to launch first national anti-polio drive of 2026 today to vaccinate millions
- Pakistani health volunteers will aim to vaccinate over 45 million children from Feb. 2-8, reports state media
- Pakistan reported 31 polio cases last year, which were significantly lower than the 74 cases it reported in 2024
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani health authorities will launch the year’s first national anti-polio drive today, Monday, to vaccinate over 45 million children against the virus, state media reported as Islamabad aims to eliminate the disease.
Eliminating poliovirus remains a critical health initiative of Pakistan, which along with Afghanistan, is one of only two countries worldwide where the virus is endemic. Pakistan reported 31 cases of polio in 2025, which authorities say is a significant decline from the alarming 74 cases of the disease it reported in 2024.
Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication Ayesha Raza Farooq announced last month that the anti-polio vaccination campaign will be conducted across the country from Feb. 2 to 8, during which over 45 million children under the age of five will be targeted. She said a total of 400,000 trained health volunteers will go door-to-door to administer polio drops to children.
“A varied duration anti-polio campaign in Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will begin from tomorrow [Monday],” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported on Sunday.
The National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC), in an earlier statement, said six national polio campaigns were conducted across the country in 2025. The NEOC urged parents to fully cooperate with polio teams and ensure their children receive polio drops.
Polio workers and their security escorts have repeatedly been targeted in militant attacks, particularly in parts of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan provinces, complicating efforts to vaccinate children in remote areas.
A gun attack targeting a polio vaccination team in Pakistan’s northwestern Bajaur district in December 2025 left one police constable and a civilian dead.
Natural disasters, such as floods, have also disrupted vaccination campaigns in recent years.
