Earthquake kills 34 in Balochistan

An earthquake measuring 7.9 hit Balochistan province and killed at least 34 people on Tuesday, officials said.

Many more injured in the Panjgur and Mashkeel area of Balochistan, bordering Iran.

Nearly 50 people sustained injuries in Karachi in the incidents of the roof collapse.

Over 1‚000 houses partially damaged in Balochistan.

An army statement said that score of houses collapsed in Mashkhel (located close to Pak –Iran border ) District Washuk.

Frontier Corps troops (62 Wing) located in area immediately tasked by Headquarters Southern Command to respond to the situation; undertake relief and rescue operations and provide medical treatment to the injured.

Additional Frontier Corps troops being moved from Kharan to supplement the relief efforts. Army helicopters being flown to Mashkhel along with medical staff,tents, medicines and other relief items for helping the locals on emergent basis.

More rescue teams from the nearby areas are also being sent to the earthquake-hit areas.

Pakistan’s seismological department says that the intensity of the tremours in other parts were recorded 5.4-magnitude on the Richter scale. The earthquake shook most parts of the country however parts in Balochistan province, especially near border with Iran, had been the badly affected areas, radio Pakistan reported.

Tremors were felt in all parts of Balochistan, the capital Islamabad, Punjab and Sindh provinces. The earthquake created panic amongst people which also caused cracks in several buildings.

In the port city of Karachi, workers and people run outside and stayed for some time. Buildings in Karachi were immediately evacuated after the tremors were felt.

According to Azmat Hayat of Meteorological Department‚ the epicenter of the earthquake‚ which struck at 3.44 pm‚ was in Iran near Pakistan border.

He said the depth of the quake was about 15.5 kilometers and as the depth was not much deep‚ therefore‚ the tremors were felt across the region.

To a question‚ he said aftershocks are normal phenomenon in such major earthquakes.

The US Geological Survey said the quake hit at 10:44 GMT at a depth of 15.2 km.

It was located 201 km (125 miles) southeast of the Iranian city of Zahedan and 250 km of Turbat in Pakistan, USGS said.

In the port city of Karachi, workers and people run outside and stayed for some time. Buildings in Karachi were immediately evacuated after the tremors were felt.

Several parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province‚ including Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas also felt the jolts.

Meanwhile Iranian state television reported that at least 40 people have been killed and hundreds injured in the aftermath.

An Iranian government official said it was the biggest earthquake in Iran in 40 years and we are expecting hundreds of deaths.

Tremors from the earthquake were felt as far away as New Delhi and the Gulf cities of Dubai and Bahrain.

Across the Gulf‚ high-rise buildings swayed and officials ordered evacuations.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=39922

Posted by Tahir Khan on Apr 16 2013. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.