A moderate earthquake struck parts of northern India and Pakistan on Saturday afternoon, sending mild waves of panic through homes and offices. The quake, which measured 5.8 on the Richter scale, originated in Afghanistan at around 12:17 pm IST, according to the National Center for Seismology. People in Delhi-NCR, Jammu & Kashmir, and several cities in Pakistan felt the tremors. In Srinagar, an office worker described the unsettling moment, saying, “I felt my chair shake. It was sudden, and for a moment, no one knew what was happening.” Fortunately, there have been no reports of damage or casualties in India so far, though officials are keeping a close watch for any aftershocks or developments.

Pakistan Records Separate Tremor Minutes Earlier

Interestingly, Pakistan’s National Seismic Monitoring Centre reported a slightly stronger 5.9 magnitude quake earlier in the day, at 11:47 am (local time). The epicenter was pinpointed near the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border, about 94 km below the surface. The tremors were widely felt in Islamabad, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, and several towns across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, including Lower Dir, Bajaur, Malakand, and Nowshera. While residents briefly evacuated buildings and took to open areas in panic, no significant damage or casualties have been reported there either. This incident comes just days after a 5.5 magnitude earthquake shook parts of Pakistan last week, reminding many of the region’s vulnerability to seismic activity. The memory of the devastating 2005 earthquake, which killed over 74,000 people, still looms large in the region.