Quetta and its neighboring areas in Balochistan experienced a moderate earthquake on Saturday around 11:09 am. The Pakistan Meteorological Department reported the epicenter of the 4.6 magnitude quake to be 98 km in the Hindu Kush Region, Afghanistan.
Earlier this month, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad were also shaken by a 4.4 magnitude earthquake. On January 4, a powerful magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck Ishikawa prefecture in Japan, resulting in the tragic death of over 70 people, with thousands evacuating their homes and numerous houses facing water supply issues.
Notably, the Research Institute of Solar System Geometry Survey (SSGS) had raised concerns last year by predicting a potential earthquake along Pakistan’s Chaman fault line, similar to its accurate prediction of a quake in Turkey in 2023. In response, the caretaker Balochistan government took precautionary measures, though the information minister emphasized the unpredictable nature of earthquakes, citing them as inevitable natural disasters.
PMD experts, however, dismissed such predictions, asserting that the movement of tectonic plates, responsible for earthquakes, cannot be accurately forecasted with current scientific knowledge.
Magnitude 4.4 Earthquake Shakes Islamabad And Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.4 shook the national capital Islamabad, as well as Malakand, Swabi, and Swat in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region, as reported by the National Seismic Monitoring Centre.
The tremors extended to Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan at approximately 2:45 pm. The earthquake’s depth was measured at 137 kilometers, with the epicenter located on the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border.
