ISLAMABAD: A 5.1 earthquake rocked parts of the country on Thursday afternoon. The tremors were felt in Islamabad, Swat and Peshawar divisions and their adjoining areas at around 4:35pm, according to the Met Office.

The National Seismic Monitoring Centre in Karachi put the depth of the earthquake – which originated in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan – at 202km below the surface of the earth.

According to meteorologists, small and frequent tremors are far less dangerous than larger quakes, as they help dissipate seismic energy which, if stored up for too long, manifests itself in the shape of massive quakes that can cause widespread damage.

The Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan and Pakistan, which is located roughly on top of point where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates collide, has seen a very high number of low-intensity earthquakes over the past year or so.

The massive 8.1 quake that left over 200 dead and thousands injured on Oct 26, 2015, also originated in the same region.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2016