Pakistan experienced a moderate earthquake of magnitude 5.0 on Saturday, as confirmed by the National Centre for Seismology (NCS). The earthquake’s epicenter was located at a shallow depth of 10 km, raising concerns about potential aftershocks. The NCS specified the event details, noting the time of occurrence and its geographical coordinates. Shallow seismic activity generally poses a greater risk than deeper events because the seismic waves travel a shorter distance to the surface, leading to more intense ground shaking. This can result in substantial damage to infrastructure and increased risk to life. Pakistan’s position within a geologically active region, marked by several significant fault lines, makes it prone to such seismic occurrences. The country sits at the confluence of the Arabian, Eurasian, and Indian tectonic plates. Provinces such as Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Gilgit-Baltistan are on the edge of the Eurasian plate, while Sindh and Punjab are near the Indian plate’s edge, contributing to the frequency of earthquakes. This contrasts with a prior 4.6 magnitude tremor on October 5 in a different part of the country.
