Strong 5.9-Magnitude Earthquake Jolts Balochistan’s Khuzdar District

QUETTA: A strong magnitude 5.9 earthquake jolted Balochistan’s Khuzdar district and surrounding areas on Saturday morning, triggering alarm among local residents and prompting disaster management authorities to initiate ground assessments. According to seismic data released by the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), the tremors struck at precisely 10:07 am local time at a focal depth of 25 kilometres, sending noticeable shockwaves across multiple administrative subdivisions.

The PMD’s National Seismic Monitoring Centre in Islamabad confirmed that the epicentre was located 48 kilometres northwest of Khuzdar city, at latitude 28.02 degrees north and longitude 66.20 degrees east. Local administration officials reported that frightened citizens fled homes, shops, and educational institutions into open spaces as the ground shook violently for several seconds. Initial ground checks did not immediately report major casualties or severe structural collapses, though assessments in distant rural pockets remain underway.

Balochistan remains exceptionally vulnerable to recurrent tectonic disturbances due to its position along active fault lines, notably where the Indian tectonic plate intersects with the Eurasian plate along the notorious Chaman and Makran fault systems. Earlier this year in August, a 4.8-magnitude tremor shook parts of northern Balochistan, including Zhob and Chaman, at a shallower depth of 15 kilometres, highlighting the sustained geological fragility of the region’s predominantly semi-pucca and mud-brick settlements.

Provincial authorities and district administration teams have alerted basic healthcare units and emergency response cells across the central and southern belts of the province to monitor for aftershocks. Seismologists have advised the public to exercise caution, maintain emergency preparedness, and report any severe structural fissures to local civil defense monitoring units as technical surveillance of the fault line continues.