Moderate earthquake jolts northwestern Pak

A moderate earthquake rattled Pak's capital and parts of the country's northwest on sunday.

A moderate earthquake rattled Pakistan's capital and parts of the country's northwest on Sunday, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, an official said.

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The magnitude 5 quake was centred in Hazara Division, a rugged region about 80 kms (50 miles) north of the capital Islamabad, said an official at the state-run seismological centre. He asked not to be named in line with official policy. He said the jolt was an aftershock of last year's October 8 quake that flattened Balakot and devastated other parts of the Hazara Division and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. It left more than 80,000 people dead and millions of others homeless.

The official said Sunday's 7:49 am (2:49 GMT) quake was felt in Islamabad, as well as in the hill resort district of Swat and the towns of Balakot and Mansehra in the Hazara Division of the North-West Frontier province.

A total of 1,784 aftershocks have been recorded since the October 8 quake, according to the seismological centre, based in Peshawar, capital of the North West Frontier province.