Pakistan earthquake kills at least 200, as tremor creates a new island in the sea

A major earthquake has hit a remote part of western Pakistan, killing at least 200 people and prompting a new island to rise from the sea just off the country’s southern coast.

Tremors were felt as far away as the Indian capital of New Delhi, hundreds of kilometres to the east, where buildings shook, as well as Dubai in the Gulf and Pakistan’s sprawling port city of Karachi.

The quake caused scores of houses to collapse in remote mountainous areas near the Iranian border, Pakistan’s Frontier Corps said.

Local officials confirmed that 208 have been killed with the death toll expected to rise.

Asad Gilani, one of the most senior officials in the Baluchistan administration, said 100 people had been injured in the quake and Awaran police chief Rafiq Lassi added that officials feared the death toll would rise.

The United States Geological Survey said the 7.8 magnitude quake struck 235km south-east of Dalbandin in Pakistan’s quake-prone province of Baluchistan, which borders Iran.

It issued a red alert, warning that heavy casualties were likely based on past data.

 

The earthquake was so powerful that it caused the seabed to rise and create a small, mountain-like island about 600 metres off Pakistan’s Gwadar coastline in the Arabian Sea.

Television channels showed images of a stretch of rocky terrain rising above the sea level, with a crowd of bewildered people gathering on the shore to witness the rare phenomenon.

Officials said scores of mud houses were destroyed by aftershocks in the thinly populated mountainous area near the quake epicenter in Baluchistan, a huge barren province of deserts and rugged mountains.

Baluchistan assembly deputy speaker Abdul Qadoos said at least 30 per cent of houses in the impoverished Awaran district had caved in.

He said damage to the mobile phone network was hampering communications in the area.

200 soldiers, medical teams mobilised to help with relief effort

The provincial government declared an emergency in Awaran and the military mobilised medical teams as well as 200 soldiers and paramilitary troops to help with the immediate relief effort.

“We have received reports that many homes in Awaran district have collapsed. We fear many deaths,” Baluchistan government spokesman Jan Muhammad Baledi told the ARY news channel.

“There are not many doctors in the area but we are trying to provide maximum facilities in the affected areas.”

Television footage showed collapsed houses, caved-in roofs and people sitting in the open air outside their homes, the rubble of mud and bricks scattered around them.

Awaran district has an estimated population of around 300,000, scattered over an area of more than 21,000 square km.

In the regional capital of Quetta, officials said some areas appeared to be badly damaged but it was hard to assess the impact quickly because the locations were so remote.

Office workers in Pakistan’s largest city Karachi rushed out of their buildings.

“My work table jerked a bit and again and I impulsively rushed outside,” 28-year-old resident Noor Jabeen said.

Government worker Owais Khan said: “It was not so intense, but it was terrible.”

Amjad Ali, a 45-year-old information technology worker, says whenever there is a jolt “it reminds me of the 2005 earthquake in Kashmir”.

The 7.6 magnitude quake in 2005 killed at least 73,000 people and left several million homeless in one of the worst natural disasters to hit Pakistan.

Reuters/AFP

 

 

(Reuters) – A major earthquake hit a remote part of western Pakistan on Tuesday, killing at least 45 people and prompting a new island to rise from the sea just off the country’s southern coast.

Tremors were felt as far away as the Indian capital of New Delhi, hundreds of miles (kilometers) to the east, where buildings shook, as well as the sprawling port city of Karachi in Pakistan.

The United States Geological Survey said the 7.8 magnitude quake struck 145 miles southeast of Dalbandin in Pakistan’s quake-prone province of Baluchistan, which borders Iran.

The earthquake was so powerful that it caused the seabed to rise and create a small, mountain-like island about 600 meters (yards) off Pakistan’s Gwadar coastline in the Arabian Sea.

Television channels showed images of a stretch of rocky terrain rising above the sea level, with a crowd of bewildered people gathering on the shore to witness the rare phenomenon.

Officials said scores of mud houses were destroyed by aftershocks in the thinly populated mountainous area near the quake epicenter in Baluchistan, a huge barren province of deserts and rugged mountains.

Abdul Qadoos, deputy speaker of the Baluchistan assembly, told Reuters that at least 30 percent of houses in the impoverished Awaran district had caved in.

The local deputy commissioner in Awaran, Abdul Rasheed Gogazai, and the spokesman of Pakistan’s Frontier Corps involved in the rescue effort said at least 45 people had been killed.

In the regional capital of Quetta, officials said some areas appeared to be badly damaged but it was hard to assess the impact quickly because the locations were so remote.

Chief secretary Babar Yaqoob said earlier that 25 people had been injured and that the death toll was expected to increase as many people appeared to be trapped inside their collapsed homes.

Local television reported that helicopters carrying relief supplies had been dispatched to the affected area. The army said it had deployed 200 troops to help deal with the disaster.

7.8M earthquake in Pakistan earlier today

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000jyiv#summary

A major earthquake hit a remote part of south-west Pakistan on Tuesday, killing at least 45 people and prompting a new island to rise from the sea just off the country’s southern coast.

I thought I am feeling dizziness but soon realised they were tremors

The United States Geological Survey said the 7.8 magnitude quake struck 233 kilometres southeast of Dalbandin in Pakistan’s quake-prone province of Baluchistan, which borders Iran.

The province in southwest Pakistan is the country’s largest but also the least populated.

The earthquake sent workers fleeing into the streets and praying for their lives as buildings swayed, officials said.

The earthquake was so powerful that it caused the seabed to rise and create a small, mountain-like island about 600 metres off Pakistan’s Gwadar coastline in the Arabian Sea.

Television channels showed images of a stretch of rocky terrain rising above the sea level, with a crowd of bewildered people gathering on the shore to witness the rare phenomenon.

Officials said scores of mud houses were destroyed by aftershocks in the thinly populated mountainous area near the quake epicenter in Baluchistan, a huge barren province of deserts and rugged mountains.

Abdul Qadoos, deputy speaker of the Baluchistan assembly, told Reuters that at least 30 per cent of houses in the impoverished Awaran district had caved in.

The local deputy commissioner in Awaran, Abdul Rasheed Gogazai, and the spokesman of Pakistan’s Frontier Corps involved in the rescue effort said at least 45 people had been killed.

In the regional capital of Quetta, officials said some areas appeared to be badly damaged but it was hard to assess the impact quickly because the locations were so remote.

Chief secretary Babar Yaqoob said earlier that 25 people had been injured and that the death toll was expected to increase as many people appeared to be trapped inside their collapsed homes.

Local television reported that helicopters carrying relief supplies had been dispatched to the affected area. The army said it had deployed 200 troops to help deal with the disaster.

The district’s deputy commissioner Abdur Rasheed said rescue teams have been dispatched to the area.

The head of Pakistan’s Earthquake Centre, Zahid Rafi, warned of possible aftershocks.

The quake was felt in Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, along the Arabian Sea. People in the city’s tall office buildings rushed into the streets following the tremor, and Pakistani television showed images of lights swaying as the earth moved.

“I was working on my computer in the office. Suddenly I felt tremors. My table and computer started shaking. I thought I am feeling dizziness but soon realised they were tremors,” said one Karachi resident, Mohammad Taimur.

TV footage showed residents in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan, coming out of their homes and offices in a panic. One man told Pakistan’s Dunya television channel that he was sitting in his office when the building started shaking.

Other residents said people started reciting verses from Islam’s holy book, the Quran, when the quake began.

Baluchistan and neighbouring Iran are prone to earthquakes.

A magnitude 7.8, which was centred just across the border in Iran, killed at least 35 people in Pakistan last April.

In January 2011, a 7.2 magnitude quake damaged 200 mud-brick homes in a remote area of Baluchistan about 320 kilometres southwest of Quetta, not far from the Afghan border but caused no casualties.