Quake shakes Mirpur, Jhelum and outskirts yet again

Author: Web Desk

A 4.7-magnitude earthquake struck southern Mirpur district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Thursday.

Occurring at about 12 pm, the shallow quake hit 10 kilometres north of Jhelum, along the boundary separating the agricultural heartland of Punjab and AJK.

Moreover, a 4.4-magnitude quake 6km north of Jhelum with the depth of 12km was also recorded by National Seismic Monitoring Centre in Islamabad.

Minor tremors were also felt in Lahore and Sialkot. Many residents left their homes and offices reciting verses.

Taking to Twitter, various people said they had felt minor tremors in Lahore. However, some speculated that they may have been aftershocks of the devastating earthquake two days ago.

Two bridges over the canal had been badly damaged, adding that the road running parallel to the canal had either sunk or developed wide cracks.

Pictures and visuals shared by residents showed the quake had left several vehicles either toppled or damaged by the debris of fallen boundary walls.

Notably, it was the second major earthquake to have hit AJK in two decades. Earlier in 2005, more than 46,000 people were killed in northern districts of AJK, mainly Muzaffarabad, after being hit by a 7.6-magnitude earthquake. The overall deaths were more than 73,000 as parts of neighbouring KP province were also hit by that earthquake. However, southern AJK districts, including Kotli, Mirpur and Bhimber, had remained unaffected by the 2005 earthquake.