AT LEAST 24 PEOPLE WERE INJURED, THREE SERIOUSLY, AS AN EARTHQUAKE MEASURING 5.2 ON THE RICHTER SCALE SHOOK NORTHERN PAKISTAN TUESDAY, METEOROLOGICAL AND POLICE OFFICIALS SAID. THE TREMOR OCCURRED AT 2:12 PM (0912 GMT) WITH AN EPICENTRE LOCATED AT ABOUT 200 KILOMETRES NORTH-EAST OF PESHAWAR CITY NEAR THE HAZARA DIVISION IN THE COUNTRY'S NORTHWESTERN FRONTIER PROVINCE (NWFP), A METEOROLOGICAL OFFICIAL TOLD DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR DPA. THE QUAKE WAS ALSO FELT IN THE CAPITAL ISLAMABAD AND THE CITIES OF PESHAWAR, MANSEHRA, BATAGRAM, KOHISTAN AND BALAKOT. ANOTHER MILD AFTERSHOCK MEASURING 4.2 ON THE RICHTER SCALE ALSO JOLTED THESE CITIES FOUR MINUTES AFTER THE FIRST TREMOR. MUHAMMAD MISKEEN, A LOCAL POLICE OFFICIAL IN BATAGRAM TOWN SAID THAT 24 PEOPLE WERE INJURED AFTER ROOFS AND WALLS OF SOME SHANTY HOUSES, DAMAGED DURING LAST YEAR'S EARTHQUAKE, CRUMBLED IN THE AREA. THE 7.6-MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE IN OCTOBER KILLED AN ESTIMATED 75,000 PEOPLE IN PARTS OF NORTH-WESTERN FRONTIER PROVINCE AND KASHMIR WHILE CAUSING DESTRUCTION OVER AN AREA OF MORE THAN 28,000 SQUARE KILOMETRES. THE CHIEF OF THE METEOROLOGICAL OFFICE, QAMAR-UR-ZAMAN, RECENTLY SAID AFTERSHOCKS OF THE OCTOBER QUAKE WOULD CONTINUE UNTIL MAY. ACCORDING TO HIM MORE THAN 1,600 AFTERSHOCKS HAVE HIT THE QUAKE- RAVAGED REGION SINCE THE OCTOBER 8 TREMOR. --SP 22 54 LOCAL TIME 19 54 GMT
