- Epicenter located in Sonmiani, 87 km from Karachi: NSMC.
- Tremors were felt in Balochistan in Hub, Vinder and Gadani.
- A 3.2 magnitude earthquake shook the city of Sibi today.
A moderate earthquake of magnitude 5.2 shook parts of Karachi and Balochistan late on Monday night, causing panic among citizens.
The National Seismic Monitoring Center of the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said that the epicenter of the earthquake occurred in Sonmiani, Balochistan, with a depth of 12 kilometers and its epicenter about 87 kilometers from Karachi.
Sonmiani is a coastal town in the southeast of Balochistan.
In Balochistan, tremors were felt in Hub, Vinder and Gadani.
Earlier today, a magnitude 3.2 earthquake shook the city of Sibi in Balochistan and its surrounding areas, with the epicenter 53 kilometers from the city, with no casualties or damage reported.
On December 3, mild tremors shook Khuzdar and Sibi districts.
Khuzdar experienced a magnitude 3.3 earthquake at a depth of 15 kilometers, with its epicenter 80 kilometers southwest of the city, while Sibi felt magnitude 4.0 tremors at a depth of 10 kilometers, with its epicenter about 50 kilometers southwest of Sibi.
The Sibi earthquake on November 26 had a magnitude of 3.1 and its depth was recorded at about ten kilometers. The NSMC reported that the epicenter was located about 60 kilometers northeast of Sibi.
The tremors did not last long and caused no damage.
Some parts of the province also suffered minor tremors in early November.
On November 8, tremors from the PMD seismic center shook Ziarat and its surrounding areas, registering a magnitude of 5.0.
The epicenter of the earthquake was located 67 kilometers northeast of Quetta.
The last major earthquake to hit Ziarat occurred in 2008 and claimed more than 200 lives and left around 500 injured.
Entire villages were razed and hundreds of houses and government buildings were reduced to rubble, forcing more than 15,000 people to flee their homes.
The most affected areas were the small settlements of Ziarat, where approximately 170 people died, most of them women and children.
While other districts including Pishin, Bolan, Chaman and Quetta also reported casualties and damage, according to reports.
The country has long been vulnerable to natural disasters, from the 2005 northern earthquake that killed 73,000 people to the devastating 1935 Quetta earthquake, which claimed around 30,000 lives.
Balochistan province largely lies along a seismic point, where the Indian plate pushes against the Eurasian plate.
Balochistan, the country’s largest province, remains sparsely populated, making rescue and relief operations especially difficult.
