Earthquake shakes Pakistan and Afghanistan

A strong earthquake jolted parts of Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan on Saturday, sending residents into the streets but producing no immediate reports of deaths or major damage. The Independent, citing the Associated Press, reported Pakistan’s Meteorological Department measured the quake at magnitude 5.9, while the US Geological Survey put it at 6.1, with the epicentre in Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush region.

The shaking was felt across a wide area, including Islamabad and parts of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as well as Pakistan-administered Kashmir, according to the report. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, emergency services placed district administrations on alert. A spokesperson for the Provincial Disaster Management Authority told AP that initial assessments had not identified casualties or structural damage.

The lack of immediate destruction is itself informative in a region where seismic events routinely test weak points: older buildings, informal construction, and emergency systems that work best when communications and roads hold. Earthquakes are not only about ground motion; they are also about the ability to check bridges, hospitals, and housing stock quickly enough to reassure the public or order evacuations. In places where many people live with limited insurance and limited savings, even a “no damage reported” quake can still translate into lost workdays, overnight displacement, and aftershock anxiety that keeps families outside.

Afghanistan’s disaster agency said the quake was felt in Kabul and other areas. The report noted Afghanistan has suffered repeated earthquakes in recent years that have killed thousands, while Pakistan sits on an active seismic zone that has produced catastrophic events, including the 2005 quake that killed tens of thousands in Pakistan and Kashmir.

Saturday’s tremor did not immediately add to that toll. It did, however, prompt the familiar sequence: people running from buildings first, and officials counting the costs later.