Six killed as 7.1 magnitude quake jolts northern areas, Punjab

Published April 10, 2016
A man helps an injured boy to a hospital after an earthquake hit Peshawar, Pakistan. Photo: AP
A man helps an injured boy to a hospital after an earthquake hit Peshawar, Pakistan. Photo: AP

PESHAWAR: A 7.1 magnitude earthquake jolted parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab on Sunday afternoon, the Pakistan Meteorological Department said, causing fear and panic among residents who vacated buildings for the duration of the almost ‘three-minute-long quake.’

Six people – five in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa one in Gilgit-Baltistan – died from landslides, said a spokesman of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). At least 20 houses were damaged due to the quake.

Twenty seven injured people were admitted to Peshawar's Lady Reading Hospital for treatment, most of whom were discharged after first aid, said Dr Khalid Masood, the hospital's spokesman. He said all injured were in stable conditions.

The quake was felt for a few seconds in Kabul and in Islamabad, where some residents evacuated apartment blocks after tremors shook ceiling fans and furniture.

The quake was also felt in New Delhi, where buildings in the centre swayed and the metro train system was halted temporarily as a precaution.

People rushed out of their homes in the northern region of Indian-administered Kashmir.

“People are on the streets now and we don't know whether to go back inside,” said an AFP reporter in Srinagar.

In Pakistan, tremors were felt in Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Swat, Chitral, Mardan, Kohat, Hangu, Shangla, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, DawnNews reported.

USGS pinpoints Ashkasham, Afghanistan, as quake epicentre.
USGS pinpoints Ashkasham, Afghanistan, as quake epicentre.

The 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck at around 3:30pm at a depth of 236 kilometres with its epicentre in Afghanistan's Hindu Kush region, the Pakistan Meteorological Department said.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS), however, measured the magnitude of the quake to be 6.6 and said the epicentre was Ashkasham in Afghanistan.

Explore: Eyewitness accounts: 'Pure terror. A minute of quake'

Pakistan is located in the Indus-Tsangpo Suture Zone, which is roughly 200 km north of the Himalaya Front and is defined by an exposed ophiolite chain along its southern margin.

This region has the highest rates of seismicity and largest earthquakes in the Himalaya region, caused mainly by movement on thrust faults.

Along the western margin of the Tibetan Plateau, in the vicinity of south-eastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan, the South Asian plate translates obliquely relative to the Eurasia plate, resulting in a complex fold-and-thrust belt known as the Sulaiman Range.

Faulting in this region includes strike-slip, reverse-slip and oblique-slip motion and often results in shallow, destructive earthquakes.

The PMD recorded about 851 seismic disturbances in 2015.

With additional reporting by Raza Bangash in Islamabad.

Opinion

Editorial

Disregarding CCI
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Disregarding CCI

The failure to regularly convene CCI meetings means that the process of democratic decision-making is falling apart.
Defeating TB
04 Nov, 2024

Defeating TB

CONSIDERING the fact that Pakistan has the fifth highest burden of tuberculosis in the world as per the World Health...
Ceasefire charade
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Ceasefire charade

The US talks of peace, while simultaneously arming and funding their Israeli allies, are doomed to fail, and are little more than a charade.
Concerning measures
Updated 03 Nov, 2024

Concerning measures

The govt must seek political input and consensus on the changes it is seeking to make and be open about its intentions.
Short-lived relief?
03 Nov, 2024

Short-lived relief?

POLICYMAKERS must be jumping with joy. At the close of the first quarter of FY25, the budget posted a consolidated...
Brisk spread
03 Nov, 2024

Brisk spread

THE surge in polio cases has reached distressing levels with a tally of 45 last reported, after two cases emerged in...