Magnitude 5.7 earthquake strikes near Khuzdar in Pakistan's Balochistan

A shallow earthquake struck near Khuzdar in Pakistan’s Balochistan province on Saturday morning, sending tremors through the district and nearby areas (Reuters).

Early readings from seismological agencies varied: Germany’s GFZ measured the quake at magnitude 5.6 at a depth of 10 kilometres (Reuters), the United States Geological Survey recorded magnitude 5.7 at 05:06 UTC with the epicentre 48 kilometres west-northwest of Khuzdar (Orbit Post/USGS), and India’s National Centre for Seismology put it at magnitude 5.8 at a depth of 15 kilometres (Khaleej Times). One report cited a reading of 6.0 (WION), an outlier against the other agencies.

The USGS, whose 05:06 UTC reading corresponds to 10:06am local time, issued a yellow alert under its PAGER system, indicating that some casualties or damage are possible (Orbit Post/USGS). In Basima tehsil of Washuk district, residents rushed out of their homes and shops into open spaces as tremors were felt (Kashmir English).

No casualties or property damage have yet been confirmed by the authorities, and disaster management agencies are assessing the affected areas (Kashmir English). Pakistan sits along the boundary where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates collide, with regions such as Balochistan lying near major fault lines and particularly vulnerable to seismic activity (Khaleej Times).