Pakistan had barely ceased commemorating and remembering the 10th anniversary of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake when the earth shook yet again, bringing back painful memories and reopening old wounds. This was one reason Monday’s quake wreaked havoc. It was not just the casualties and the injuries that paralysed life in major cities and towns, but the memories of 2005 that panicked people as they ran out of high-rise buildings and office work was suspended. Many refused to go back in and preferred to stay outdoors for fear of aftershocks. People took to their phones and called to check on their loved ones. Across the country, there was confusion and panic as communication lines remained disrupted. With the northern parts of the country all but cut off, it was very difficult to ascertain the extent of damage in the remote parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Fata and Gilgit-Baltistan. Malakand Division appeared to be the worst hit, but initial information was sketchy. Many predicted that once communication was restored, there would be news of a high casualty rate. After all, this is what had happened in 2005, pointed out one person after another. There was also anger and confusion among the people who blamed the authorities for not learning lessons from what happened ten years ago. Building codes were not implemented and neither was the pace of deforestation stemmed. Television talk shows focused on all the sins of omission and once evening fell, there was little word on new casualty figures. By then, the governments – provincial and federal – had swung into action and were promising their best efforts to help the people. The army chief, meanwhile, had already rushed to Peshawar as news about his orders to the troops to rush to the survivors’ rescue was tweeted. But there was little doubt that the coming days would bring more bad news and the nation braced itself for the inevitable once the initial shock wore off. Another natural disaster had struck and the role man had played to make it worse will be unveiled in the days to come.

•At least 220 killed across country •Chitral, Shangla, Dir worst hit •Communication networks disrupted •Gen Raheel flies to Peshawar •Tremor rekindles trauma of 2005

PESHAWAR: More than 280 people were killed and over 1,580 injured when a deadly earthquake measuring 8.1 on the Richter scale rocked parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan on Monday. Tre­mors were also felt in northern India and Tajikistan.

At least 220 people died in Pakistan and 63 in Afghanistan.

Most of the deaths were reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and adjoining tribal areas, where 204 people died and more than 1,500 suffered injuries.

A large number of buildings, houses and other properties were severely damaged and communication networks disrupted across the province.

The KP government has declared an emergency in hospitals and put relevant departments on high alert to cope with the calamity.

The northern districts of Chitral, Shangla and Lower Dir were the worst hit, accounting for nearly half of the human losses.

The tremors which started at around 2.09pm turned into violent jolts and panic-stricken people scurried to find shelter in open spaces. “I have never seen anything like this before,” Mohammad Ali, a vendor in Peshawar’s busy shopping area in Saddar, said. “I was looking at the towering building, fearing it will come crashing on me anytime. The whole building was swinging from one side to the other.”

The aftershocks continued for some time, keeping reluctant people fearing another massive jolt from returning to offices and houses.

The army’s Quick Response Force had been called in to assist district authorities in rescue and relief operations in the affected areas of Malakand division, military spokesman Lt Gen Asim Bajwa said.

Army Chief General Raheel Sharif arrived in Peshawar and was briefed at the corps headquarters on rescue work.

“Gen Raheel directed all troops to go to the remotest areas to ensure relief of every affected family and individual and extend maximum help,” Lt Gen Bajwa said.

KP government’s spokesman Mushtaq Ghani said the death toll might rise because the authorities concerned had yet to receive details from far-flung areas, particularly Chitral, Lower Dir and Shangla.

“Death toll will rise keeping in view the magnitude of the quake,” he said, adding that the Malakand division was badly hit where most of the people had been killed and wounded because a large number of big and small buildings had collapsed.

The intensity of Monday’s earthquake was higher than that of the Oct 2005 tremor which had killed about 75,000 people and rendered 3.5 million homeless across the country.

The Oct 2005 earthquake measuring 7.6 had badly damaged Hazara division, adjacent to Malakand. Approximately 30,000 had died in Mansehra district alone.

Monday’s earthquake reminded Khursheed Zaman, a resident of Balakot town, of the devastating tremor of 2005 that killed 19 members of his family. “Today tremor was more severe because of its duration. It reminded me of the terrible memories and severity of the 2005 earthquake which had destroyed our entire town,” he said.

Zulfiqar Ali, a resident of Boni in Chitral, said: “It was horrible and dreadful. I never experienced such a severe jolt. Initially, there was a slight vibration followed by the earthquake of very high intensity. Everything was in motion.”

Millions of people were frightened when the earth started shaking. The tremor created panic and terrified people started running towards open areas. Several women fainted in Peshawar’s Saddar Bazaar. Over 100 injured were brought to Lady Reading Hospital. Most of them were treated for minor injuries.

The disaster also caused stampede in multi-storey apartments in Peshawar, causing injuries to many people. Wide cracks appeared in buildings and boundary walls collapsed.

A large portion of the wall of Bala Hisar Fort, the headquarters of Frontier Corps, also collapsed. People having offices in multi-storey buildings passed through a nightmare in Peshawar. Mobile phone networks went down.

“People ran in panic when the quake jolted the earth. I was pushed down from the first floor of a commercial plaza,” said Abdul Karim lying in a hospital’s bed with left leg and left arm fractured.

The terrified people started reciting Quranic verses to seek forgiveness and invoke the mercy of Allah to save them from the calamity. “It all happened because of our sins,” said Ishtiaq Ullah, a rickshaw driver.

According to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), 154 people were killed in KP and 25 in Fata. Over 1,100 people were injured.

Thirty-six people were killed in Shangla, 22 each in Chitral and Lower Dir, seven in Lower Dir (160 wounded), four in Upper Dir, eight in Buner (86 injured), six in Peshawar (100 wounded), three in Lower Kohistan, one in Mansehra, two in Swabi and 15 in Porghar.

The officials at PDMA’s main control room said that reports of losses were pouring in from different areas.

The earthquake badly affected Chitral, where flash floods had already wreaked havoc in July. Police said 19 deaths had been reported from different areas of Chitral, while 85 injured had been brought to the district headquarters hospital. Several major roads have been blocked by landslides in the district.

KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak told reporters outside the Lady Reading Hospital, which received over one hundred wounded, that the district administration and health authorities had been directed to expedite rescue and relief work and look after people brought to hospitals.

The earthquake left 25 people dead and 55 injured in Fata.

Officials said 21 people were killed and 51 injured in Bajaur Agency. Three people died in Lowra Mandi area of North Waziristan. A woman was killed and four children were injured in Jamrud area of Khyber Agency. Three people suffered injuries in Parachinar, Kurram Agency.

In Gilgit-Baltistan, 10 people, including five children and four women, were killed and at least 38 injured. Several buildings, bridges, schools, hospitals and houses were damaged.

According to officials, three children died when their houses collapsed in Tangir and Deral areas of Diamer district. Six people, including three children, were injured.

A woman teacher was killed and a girl injured after they were hit by a landslide in Dongdas Nagar.

A girl and an aged man were killed when a landslide struck their vehicle in Phandar valley of Ghizer district. According to police, 20 houses collapsed in Ghizer, injuring 25 people. They said one woman died in Yasin area and two men in Ghupis area.

A girl was killed when the building of her school collapsed in Guglote area of Gilgit district. Six other people were injured in quake-related incidents in the area.

A major road connecting remote areas of the region with the Karakoram Highway was blocked at four places by landslides.

Gilgit-Baltistan Home Secretary Ehsan Bhutta told Dawn that the breakdown of communication system was causing problems for ascertaining the causalities in the region. Link roads in remote areas have been blocked by landslides and rescue teams were unable to reach there.

The administration announced that all schools in the region would remain closed on Tuesday.

In Punjab, four people, including a girl, died and 29 others suffered injuries in quake-related incidents.

A woman died in Sahiwal, a man in Gujranwala, a girl in Dera Ghazi Khan, an aged man in Kasur and a woman in Islamabad.

About 40 people were injured in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, 16 in Sargodha, six in Gujranwala, four in Multan, two in Kasur and one in Sahiwal.

Although several high-rise buildings in the capital developed cracks, there was no report of any building having collapsed.

Police and paramilitary personnel sealed the unsafe buildings.

In Azad Jammu and Kashmir, a 16-year-old boy was killed when the wall of a house collapsed on a group of students in Mirpur. Two other boys were injured.

Jamil Nagri in Gilgit and our reporters in Islamabad and Lahore contributed to the report

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2015

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