Magnitude 7.6 Eartquake Rocks Pakistan

AFP: US govt says Pakistani earthquake measured 7.6



The agency said the epicenter of the tremor that occurred at 0350 GMT was located 95 kilometers (60 miles) north northeast if Islamabad, the Pakistani capital. It added that the magnitude and location of the temblor could be revised when additional data and further analysis results became known.

Witnesses reported panicked people fleeing into the streets of the Pakistani capital Islamabad and the eastern city of Lahore. "It was so severe in Lahore that we rushed out of our homes and we are still outside," said Sohail Ahmed, a local resident contacted by telephone. Witnesses in Islamabad said the ground shook for over 30 seconds, rocking buildings and causing widespread panic. A second less severe jolt lasted about five seconds. Many mosques in Islamabad started reciting special prayers straight afterwards.

"This is the strongest earthquake I have ever witnessed in my life," said Aisha Begum, 84. Screaming could be heard from across the city as people fled homes, shops and offices. The quake was felt as far away as the western Pakistani city of Quetta, some 700 kilometres (435 miles) southwest of Islamabad, and in the Afghan capital Kabul some 380 kilometres (235 miles) west of the Pakistani capital. Witnesses said many phone lines in Pakistan went down and it was not possible to get any government details of damage or casualties.

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BBC: Quake hits Indo-Pakistan border


Pakistan's army says it fears heavy damage in northern areas. A government official said the eventual death toll could be "very high".

The 200-year-old Moti Mahal fort in Poonch district, Indian-administered Kashmir, has collapsed.

Indian defence officials told the Press Trust of India there was "massive destruction" in Uri, close to the Line of Control that separates divided Kashmir. "Initial reports are that not many houses are standing."

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ABC Online: Strong quake rocks Indian subcontinent

Village 'wiped out'

A village in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir was "wiped out" and there are reports of widespread, severe damage, the chief military spokesman said.

The village hit by the quake was in the Bagh district of the mountainous Himalayan area, Major General Shaukat Sultan told AFP.

"We have reports that an entire village has been wiped out in Bagh district in Kashmir," he said. "In Kashmir and the northern areas we are receiving reports of severe damage."

The two top storeys of a residential building also collapsed in Islamabad, causing an unknown of number of casualties, witnesses said.

Hundreds of terrified onlookers watched as people tried to rescue those trapped and ambulances were seen rushing to the Margalla towers.

There were also reports of houses and structures collapsing in other northern cities and towns.

Two children were killed and nearly a dozen mud-brick houses were destroyed when in parts of Afghanistan, an official said.

"We've reports that two childern were killed, one in Charbag and one in Chapliyar districts," Haikal Shah Falah, a government employee in Jalalabad said.

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Scotsman: 30,000 now confirmed dead in quake

More than 30,000 people are now confirmed dead following Saturday's huge earthquake in South Asia.

More than 30,000 people, many of them students, died in the Pakistan-controlled portion of Kashmir, said Tariq Mahmmod, communications minister for the region. "I have been informed by my department that more than 30,000 people have died in Kashmir," he said.

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The Independent: Volcano fears could force 150,000 to flee quake area

26 October 2005

The Pakistani army has flown two geologists to an isolated north-western valley to investigate reports of volcanic activity that could force 150,000 people already hit by the earthquake to flee Himalayan foothills.

About 3.3 million people have already been left homeless by the quake, which killed about 80,000.

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India Daily: Pak N-facilities damaged in quake

Nov. 20, 2005


Pakistani nuclear facilities and storage sites in the Northern Areas have suffered "15 to 20 per cent damage" in the recent mega quake and the local populace faces the risk of contamination, a report said.

"While Western sources did not say that reactors had been damaged in the October 8 earthquake, they confirmed that missile silos had developed cracks and storage facilities had taken a hit". Pakistan government turned away international relief teams "because of the serious damage to the nuclear facilities in the Northern Areas"

"To prevent leak of this massive nuclear destruction, Pakistan bottled up the local population by imposing curfew and did not permit international inspection of the disaster-hit areas"

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BBC: Pakistan to move quake-hit city

2 April 2006


Pakistan is to rebuild the city of Balakot in a completely new location after it was razed by last year's Kashmir earthquake. The city, home to 300,000 people before the quake, will be rebuilt in a safer location to modern design standards. Pakistan also announced that it will shift focus from relief efforts to begin the rebuilding of devastated towns and villages on 7 April. More than 73,000 people died and three million lost homes in the earthquake.

Balakot is currently located on a major geological fault line



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Times Online: Quake aid 'is linked to terror suspects'

August 19, 2006


THE Pakistan earthquake appeal has emerged as a potential link between some of the terror suspects arrested over the alleged plot to destroy transatlantic aircraft using liquid bombs, The Times has learnt. A charity founded to help orphans and disaster victims provides a connection between some individuals being questioned by police on suspicion of plotting “unimaginable mass murder”. Crescent Relief London was created by Abdul Rauf, from Birmingham. Two of his sons were arrested as part of the bombing inquiry and are among the 23 suspects still being held by police after the alleged attempt to bomb planes flying between London and the United States.

The charity Crescent Relief was operating in High Wycombe when all five suspects from the Buckinghamshire town were enthusiastically helping with the earthquake relief effort, The Times has established. A thousand tents were sent by High Wycombe to Pakistan through Crescent Relief London. An article in the Bucks Free Press said readers wishing to donate to that organisation should contact Khuram Ali and gave a mobile phone number. Mr Ali is one of the five High Wycombe suspects being held by police.

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