Pakistan earthquake: 6.1-magnitude quake rocks Islamabad, Punjab, KP
A 6.1-magnitude earthquake rattled Islamabad and large parts of northern Pakistan on Friday night, sending residents into the streets and triggering alarm across Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The tremor was one of the most widely felt seismic events of the day, although authorities said there were no immediate reports of major destruction or casualties.
According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department's National Seismic Monitoring Centre, the quake was recorded at 9:13pm Pakistan time. Officials placed the epicentre in Afghanistan's Hindu Kush region and said the tremor originated at a depth of 190 kilometres, a depth that can allow shaking to be felt across a broad area even when surface damage remains limited.
Reports of shaking came in from Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Murree, Taxila, Peshawar, Faisalabad, Multan and a long list of other urban centres and districts. Residents in Muzaffarabad and Skardu also felt the tremor, underscoring how widely the shock travelled through Pakistan's northern belt. Witness accounts carried by international media said movement was also noticed in Kabul and New Delhi.
The official line through the evening remained cautiously reassuring. Meteorological and seismological authorities confirmed the magnitude, location and depth, while early field information suggested that the country had avoided the kind of severe structural damage that often follows shallower quakes. Even so, the event revived public anxiety because the shaking was strong enough to be felt in homes, offices and high-rise buildings across multiple provinces.
Pakistan's exposure to earthquakes is rooted in geography. The country lies near the collision zone of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, making much of its north and west especially vulnerable to recurring seismic activity. Quakes linked to the Hindu Kush region are not unusual, but their reach often extends well beyond the immediate epicentral area, which is why tremors in Afghanistan can be felt across Pakistan.
The latest quake also revived memories of earlier disasters. In February this year, another notable tremor affected Islamabad, Swat and Hunza. More painfully, the 2005 Azad Kashmir earthquake remains one of the deadliest in the country's history, killing more than 73,000 people and displacing millions. Balochistan also suffered serious losses in 2021 when the Harnai earthquake caused deaths and complicated rescue work.
Friday night's tremor therefore carried importance beyond the absence of an immediate disaster. It served as another reminder that preparedness, building safety and rapid communication systems remain critical in a country where seismic shocks can arrive with little warning. For households in quake-prone areas, even a brief event can expose vulnerabilities in urban planning and emergency awareness.
The immediate next step is continued monitoring for aftershocks and any delayed damage reports from districts where communications and inspections may take time. Authorities are likely to keep local administrations on alert through the night, while residents in affected areas will be watching closely for further advisories from the PMD and disaster management agencies.