KARACHI: Four more tremors – two of them within a gap of four minutes – hit the city on Sunday, bringing the tally of low-intensity earthquakes to 55 since June 1.

According to the meteorological department, the first tremor of 2.5 magnitude occurred at 4:42am with its epicenters located 16km east of Malir, at a depth of 10km. The second and third of 3.8 and 2.2 magnitude were recorded at 1:30pm and 1:34pm with their epicenters located 5km and 7km north of Malir, respectively. Their depths were 10km and 45km, respectively.

The fourth one of 3.3 magnitude occurred at 3:14pm with its epicenter located 6km north of DHA City, at a depth of 50km.

“While the situation is unusual and alarming, this is also a fact that digital monitoring of the region has started only over 16 years back and that minor seismic activities “pre-empt high-intensity earthquakes” by constantly releasing accumulated energy,” said Chief Meteorologist Ameer Hyder, hoping that the seismic activity would gradually settle down.

He urged the public not to panic but consider strengthening the residential infrastructure they lived in.

“Seismic activities have increased in frequency and intensity all over the world including Pakistan. We must learn to live with earthquakes. They are part of nature and couldn’t be prevented. We should learn from countries like Japan, strengthen our infrastructure and make them earthquake-resilient.”

Since June 1, the PMD has recorded 55 tremors, most of them in the areas near Malir. The other areas include parts of Quaidabad, Gadap, DHA City, DHA and Korangi. Their intensity so far has ranged from 1.5 magnitude to 3.8 magnitude on the Richter scale.

According to experts, the fault lines passing along the areas of Landhi, Quaidabad, Gadap and Malir have become active after several decades and releasing accumulated energy in the form of low intensity earthquakes in areas close to them.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2025