Quake leaves one dead, several injured in Northern areas

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ISLAMABAD: An earthquake measuring a magnitude of 5.4 on the Richter scale struck northern Pakistan’s Kaghan Valley on Saturday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

One person was killed due to tremor resulting land-sliding in Mansehra, DawnNews reported.

Reports said that several houses were destroyed in Naran while several people were also injured.

The epicentre of the tremor was located about 5 km north of the town of Naran and 150 km north of the capital Islamabad, according to the USGS. It occurred at a depth of 43.4 km.

Low magnitude jolts were also felt in the valley after the earthquake.

Tremors have been relatively common in this area. In October last year, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake in northwestern Pakistan killed 248 and injured over 1600. The initial quake was followed by seven aftershocks. In January earlier this year, a strong jolts were felt in various parts of Islamabad and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK). Later in the month, Lahore, Faisalabad, Nankana Sahib, Sargodha, Sialkot, Sheikhupura, along with other parts of Punjab were rocked by a 4.1 magnitude quake.—Agencies