A shaky morning: Tremors jolt parts of province

No loss of human life or infrastructure was reported, but traders evacuated markets, people came out of their houses

MINGORA/ PESHAWAR:

Tremors jolted various parts of Peshawar, Malakand and Swat on Tuesday morning.

An official of the Met department told The Express Tribune the earthquake was felt in various areas of the districts at around 10am. The magnitude of the quake was reportedly 5.5 on the Richter scale, while its epicentre was 144 kilometres deep at the Tajikistan border.

Although most people could not feel the earth shaking as the tremors were of a light nature, some did panic due to the recent catastrophe in Nepal, said Izhar Ali, a shopkeeper in Mingora.

No loss of human life or infrastructure was reported, but traders evacuated markets and people came out of their houses.

According to locals, there was speculation that a high-intensity earthquake would hit Swat after the calamity in Nepal. “I did not take notice of the rumours, but did panic when I felt the tremors,” said another Mingora resident Zubair Khan.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29^th, 2015.