Friday, March 11, 2011

Eearthquake jolts northwest Pakistan

A light earthquake of magnitude 4.8 jolted northwest Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan on Friday but there were no immediate reports of casualties, an official said.

The quake struck at 4:32 pm (1132 GMT) with its epicentre in the Hindu Kush mountain range, chief meteorologist Mohammad Riaz told AFP.

Tremors were felt in several cities in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and its capital, Peshawar, he said.

The small quake hit a few hours after a devastating 8.9-magnitude earthquake hit Japan on Friday and triggered tsunami alerts across the Pacific ocean.

Pakistan was hit by a 7.6-magnitude earthquake on October 8, 2005 that killed more than 73,000 people and left about 3.5 million homeless, mainly in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

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