A 5.5-magnitude earthquake in Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush region sent tremors across northern Pakistan on Saturday, shaking Islamabad, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, and several parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Afghanistan earthquake felt in Pakistan was also reported in Swat, Hangu, North Waziristan, and Chitral.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department’s National Seismic Monitoring Centre said the quake measured 5.5 and struck at a depth of 199 kilometres, with the epicentre located in the Koh Hindu Kush region. Pakistan’s seismic monitoring portal is the official source for public earthquake reporting.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. That fits the pattern often seen in deeper Hindu Kush earthquakes, which can be felt across a wide area but do not always cause major destruction in Pakistan.
Afghanistan Earthquake Felt In Pakistan
Pakistan remains highly vulnerable to earthquakes because it lies along the boundary of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates. As a result, tremors from Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush region regularly affect major cities and mountainous northern areas.
Pakistan has experienced several damaging quakes in recent decades, including the 2005 Azad Kashmir earthquake that killed more than 73,000 people and left millions homeless. It also highlights the 2021 Harnai earthquake in Balochistan, where landslides complicated rescue work.
The latest tremor follows another earthquake earlier this month that was also traced to Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush region. The earlier quake measured 6.1 and was felt across Islamabad, parts of Punjab, KP, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Separately, AP reported on April 3 that a 5.8-magnitude Hindu Kush earthquake killed eight people in Afghanistan and was also felt in Pakistani cities, including Islamabad and Peshawar, though no casualties were reported in Pakistan. That underlines how the region’s deep earthquakes can cause harm on one side of the border while leaving the other largely shaken but physically unaffected.
Experts have long warned that Pakistan’s rugged terrain makes earthquake response harder, especially in remote valleys and high-altitude districts. Geography often complicates relief work, making preparedness especially important.
