Over 20 mild earthquakes shake Karachi in 48 hours

Since Sunday night, a swarm of mild earthquakes has rattled Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, sparking concern, confusion, and a flurry of forecasts. Karachi has recorded at least 21 low- to moderate-intensity tremors — ranging from magnitude 2.1 to 3.6 — in less than 48 hours, but experts remain divided on whether a larger, more dangerous quake is imminent. The most powerful tremor so far, a magnitude 3.6 jolt on Sunday night, caused a partial collapse of the Malir Jail wall, allowing 216 prisoners to escape, news agencies reported. While the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has urged calm, some independent voices are sounding the alarm. “The earthquake tremors of mild intensity will continue for the next two to three days, and the situation will improve as the intensity of the quakes will reduce,” PMD Director General Mahr Sahibzad Khan reassured citizens. As the city experienced continuous tremors, social media was full of posts about a potential major earthquake. The debate took a serious turn when a private Pakistani geologist said he predicted the Karachi earthquakes well before they occurred and that a major earthquake was due on Friday and Saturday night. But Shahbaz Laghari, CEO of the private Earthquake News & Research Centre, offered a sharply different view. “Our research shows that a series of small tremors often signals a major earthquake is on its way,” he said, warning that “the nights of Friday and Saturday are particularly critical for Karachiites this week.” Laghari added that his team had accurately predicted the recent tremors and urged the Sindh government to issue public warnings. “Karachi has small fault lines in areas of Korangi and Malir that are causing minor earthquakes,” he explained. However, other experts pushed back on the doomsday predictions. “There is nothing to worry about for the people of Karachi,” DG Khan maintained. Karachi’s Chief Meteorologist Amir Hyder Laghari noted the activation of a historical fault line in the region: “The fault is releasing its seismic energy,” he said, suggesting the tremor frequency should subside within a week. PMD DG Khan, too, said there is “nothing to worry about for people of Karachi.” Curiously, neither the United States Geological Survey (USGS) nor India’s National Centre for Seismology (NCS) recorded any seismic activity in the Karachi region since Sunday, raising further questions about local monitoring and reporting systems.