Pakistan Earthquakes

No M1.5+ Pakistan earthquakes have been recorded in the past 24 hours.

What the Pakistan Latest Earthquake Map Is Showing

Pakistan’s earthquakes don’t come from one fault or one type of plate movement. The country stretches from the Arabian Sea to the Himalayas and Karakoram, crossing several very different earthquake environments along the way.

This page displays the latest available Pakistan earthquakes of magnitude 1.5 and above. The list, map and statistics update when the page loads or refreshes. The availability of smaller earthquakes depends on whether regional and international monitoring networks detect and publish them.

Select a coloured circle to see the earthquake’s magnitude, location, UTC time and reported depth. The map controls allow you to compare activity recorded during the last hour, 24 hours, 7 days and 30 days.

Some earthquakes felt strongly in Pakistan begin beneath Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush or close to another international border. These may still appear when the reported location refers to Pakistan, Kashmir, the Hindu Kush or a Pakistan border region.

Pakistan earthquakes (map loads with JavaScript).

Map coverage: The operational boundary extends approximately from 23.0° to 37.8° north and 60.0° to 78.5° east. It includes Pakistan, Kashmir, the Hindu Kush, the Arabian Sea and earthquake descriptions referring to Pakistan’s borders with Afghanistan, Iran and India. Border events may appear on more than one regional page.

Pakistan Sits at a Tectonic Crossroads

Pakistan occupies part of the broad collision zone between the Indian and Eurasian plates. India continues to move northward, forcing the crust to shorten, fold and break across the Himalayas, Kashmir and northern Pakistan. That same movement is also divided among major strike-slip faults in the west.

The country’s southern coast has a different geological setting again. Offshore, the Arabian Plate descends beneath Eurasia along the Makran Subduction Zone. Pakistan therefore faces earthquakes generated by continental collision, sideways fault movement, deep regional seismicity and offshore subduction.

Research described by Stanford University shows how multiple faults stack slices of rock beneath the Himalayas. These structures help accommodate the immense compression created by the ongoing continental collision.

Four Landscapes, Four Different Earthquake Problems

• Kashmir and the Himalayan foothills: Thrust faults created by the northward movement of India can produce powerful shallow earthquakes. Muzaffarabad, Balakot, Mansehra and surrounding mountain districts were devastated in 2005.
• Gilgit-Baltistan and the Karakoram: Earthquakes occur amid exceptionally steep mountains, glaciers and narrow river valleys. Even when building damage is limited, rockfalls and landslides can isolate communities by blocking the Karakoram Highway and smaller valley roads.
• Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and northern Punjab: These areas experience local earthquakes as well as long-distance shaking from deep Hindu Kush events. Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Swat and Abbottabad may all feel an earthquake whose epicentre lies inside Afghanistan.
• Balochistan and the western plate boundary: A network of strike-slip, thrust and oblique faults crosses western Pakistan. Important structures include the Chaman, Ghazaband, Ornach-Nal and Hoshab fault systems.
• Sindh and the Arabian Sea coast: Karachi is away from the Himalayan collision front but isn’t outside Pakistan’s earthquake story. Offshore earthquakes along the Makran Subduction Zone can generate tsunamis capable of reaching the coast quickly.

Why Islamabad Can Shake When Afghanistan Moves

The Hindu Kush contains an unusual concentration of earthquakes between roughly 100 and 250 kilometres below the surface. Because their seismic waves travel efficiently through the Earth, these events can be felt across a much larger area than many shallow earthquakes.

A deep Hindu Kush earthquake may send people outdoors in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Peshawar even when its epicentre is hundreds of kilometres away. Its depth normally reduces the strongest surface shaking, but a sufficiently powerful event can still cause damage across the wider region.

This overlap is why some earthquakes appear on both the Pakistan and Hindu Kush earthquake maps. The Pakistan page follows activity affecting the country, while the Hindu Kush page concentrates on the distinctive deep earthquake zone itself.

Pakistan’s Earthquake Memory

The 2026 Cluster in Balochistan

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck northeast of Kohlu on June 26, followed the next morning by a stronger earthquake affecting Barkhan, Rakhni, Kohlu and Musakhail. Estimates for the second event ranged from magnitude 5.2 to 5.4.

Homes were damaged and residents were injured in Musakhail. Local reporting initially described three injuries, but later assessments recorded more than 20 injured people and around 125 damaged houses.

Later on June 27, a separate deep earthquake beneath Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush was felt across Islamabad, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Kashmir. Pakistan’s Meteorological Department measured that event at magnitude 5.9, while another international calculation reached 6.1. Unlike the damaging Balochistan earthquake, the deep Hindu Kush event produced no immediate reports of damage in Pakistan.

The 2019 Mirpur Earthquake

A much smaller magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck near Mirpur in Azad Jammu and Kashmir on September 24, 2019. Its shallow depth and proximity to populated areas made it disproportionately destructive. Roads split, buildings collapsed and liquefaction damaged areas close to the Jhelum River and Mangla Reservoir.

The earthquake and its aftershocks killed dozens of people and injured well over 1,000. Humanitarian organizations reported extensive damage across Mirpur and Bhimber districts in a rapid-response assessment.

The 2013 Awaran Earthquake

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake ruptured approximately 230 kilometres of the Hoshab Fault in Balochistan on September 24, 2013. Hundreds of people were killed, many villages were destroyed and more than 100,000 people were left without homes.

The earthquake also produced an unusual sight off Gwadar. A small island rose above the surface of the Arabian Sea, probably because shaking forced pressurized mud and gas upward through the seabed. NASA Earth Observatory documented the island from space. It was a temporary mud-volcano feature rather than a new piece of uplifted continental land.

The 2005 Kashmir Earthquake

On October 8, 2005, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake ruptured a Himalayan thrust fault near Muzaffarabad. Towns and villages across Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa suffered catastrophic damage. Schools, hospitals, homes and roads collapsed, while enormous landslides cut off mountain communities.

Pakistan’s official death toll eventually reached more than 87,000, with millions left without adequate shelter as winter approached. A contemporary ReliefWeb account of the disaster records its effects across Pakistan and the severe obstacles encountered during the response.

The 1935 Destruction of Quetta

Quetta was devastated before dawn on May 31, 1935, when a major earthquake struck the surrounding region. The exact magnitude and death toll remain uncertain because modern instruments and reporting systems didn’t yet exist, but tens of thousands of people were killed.

Very little of the city remained standing. Surviving film preserved by the British Film Institute records ruined streets and buildings after one of South Asia’s deadliest twentieth-century earthquakes.

The Chaman Fault Doesn’t Behave the Same Everywhere

The Chaman Fault system extends for roughly 1,000 kilometres through Afghanistan and western Pakistan. It accommodates sideways movement between India and Eurasia and includes several connected or parallel fault strands.

Satellite observations show that some sections creep slowly without producing frequent large earthquakes, while other sections remain more firmly locked. A creeping segment is releasing some movement gradually, but that doesn’t make the entire fault system harmless.

A University of Houston research project investigated the fault using satellite imagery and field observations. Later studies identified alternating locked and creeping sections, demonstrating why a long fault can behave differently from one district to another.

When the Mountains Move, Roads Become the Second Emergency

In Kashmir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan, earthquake damage doesn’t end with collapsed buildings. Shaking can send rock and soil onto roads, dam streams, damage bridges and isolate entire valleys. Aftershocks, rain and snowmelt can reactivate slopes already weakened by the main earthquake.

The 2005 Kashmir earthquake triggered thousands of landslides. The January 2026 Gilgit-Baltistan earthquake was far smaller, but landslides still blocked roads in Hunza and nearby areas. This is why a moderate mountain earthquake can disrupt travel, medical access, power and supplies long after the shaking stops.

The Arabian Sea Is Part of the Story Too

Most discussions of Pakistan’s earthquake risk concentrate on the mountains, but the Makran Subduction Zone lies offshore from Balochistan. Here, the Arabian Plate descends beneath Eurasia along a boundary extending past Pakistan and Iran.

On November 28, 1945 local time, a major offshore earthquake generated a tsunami that struck the Makran coast. Waves flooded coastal settlements, displaced boats and were recorded around the Arabian Sea. The UNESCO account of the 1945 tsunami describes the Makran boundary as Pakistan’s principal source of local tsunami danger.

A future tsunami generated close to the coast might arrive in tens of minutes rather than hours. UNESCO has worked with countries around the northwestern Indian Ocean to improve warning systems and community readiness because Pakistan, Iran, Oman and India could all be affected by a large Makran event.

Who Watches the Ground Move?

The Pakistan Meteorological Department’s National Seismic Monitoring Centre is responsible for monitoring earthquakes and supporting tsunami warnings. Its stations record seismic waves across the country and exchange information with other regional and international networks.

Offshore earthquakes are assessed in cooperation with the National Tsunami Warning Centre in Karachi. Sea-level observations, seismic instruments and international warning centres help determine whether an Arabian Sea earthquake has generated a tsunami.

The National Disaster Management Authority, provincial authorities, emergency services and local administrations coordinate preparedness and disaster response. In remote mountain districts, initial information may still take time to arrive when roads, electricity and communications have been disrupted.

Why the Same Tremor May Have Three Magnitudes

Earthquake agencies don’t always publish identical numbers. They may use different monitoring stations, magnitude scales and calculation methods. One network may describe an earthquake as magnitude 5.8 while another reports 6.0.

The first measurements are normally calculated quickly and may be revised when more seismic data becomes available. Locations and depths can change too, especially when an earthquake occurs in a remote border region with few nearby stations.

The June 2026 Hindu Kush earthquake is a good example. Pakistan’s Meteorological Department reported magnitude 5.9, while another international agency calculated 6.1. That difference doesn’t mean the earthquake changed size. It means the agencies measured the same seismic waves using different data and methods.

What Turns Shaking Into a Disaster?

Magnitude is only one part of the outcome. A shallow earthquake close to a town may cause greater destruction than a larger but deeper earthquake hundreds of kilometres away. Building design, ground conditions, landslides, population density and access to emergency services all matter.

Unreinforced brick, stone and mud construction is especially vulnerable when walls aren’t properly connected to floors and roofs. Soft river sediment can amplify shaking, while water-saturated ground may lose strength through liquefaction. Steep mountain slopes introduce the added danger of falling rock and blocked roads.

Scientists can identify high-hazard areas and estimate the likelihood of future shaking, but they cannot predict the exact time, location and magnitude of an individual earthquake. Specific claims that a major Pakistan earthquake is about to happen should be checked against the Pakistan Meteorological Department and disaster authorities.

Staying Safer During and After Shaking

Inside a stable building, Drop, Cover and Hold On. Protect your head and neck beneath a sturdy table if one is nearby, and keep away from windows, unsupported walls and heavy objects that could fall.

If you’re outdoors, move away from buildings, boundary walls, power lines and unstable slopes. Don’t enter a visibly damaged structure after the earthquake. Aftershocks can bring down walls and rock that survived the first movement.

Coastal communities should follow tsunami information issued by the Pakistan Meteorological Department. If severe or prolonged shaking is felt close to the Arabian Sea, move away from the shore and follow official evacuation instructions.

Read our earthquake safety guide, earthquake preparedness checklist and explanation of the earthquake magnitude scale.

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