3 killed, houses, shops damaged in earthquake
- September 24, 2013, 8:26 pm
- National News
- 128 Views
ISLAMABAD, September 24 (Online): An earthquake measuring 7.8 on Richter scale hit a number of cities in Sindh and Balochistan provinces on Tuesday afternoon killed at least 53 people including three children.
According to media reports, emergency has been imposed in Chaghi and Awaaran districts of Balochistan province; communication system has also been damaged in the affected areas.
According to US Geological Survey, a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday with tremors felt as far away as the Indian capital New Delhi.
The quake struck at 4:29 pm (1129 GMT) around 100 kilometers southwest of the city of Khuzdar in Balochistan province, at a depth of 10 kilometers.
The epic center of the quake was 120 kilometers away from Khuzdar.
Meteorologist, Muhammad Riaz told media that it was a major earthquake and heavy destruction was likely.
Two after shocks of 5.7 and 4.9 respectively has also been noted by the Metrological department so far.
Awaaran unluckily been reported the most affected area of earthquake and Edhi Ambulance Service has left for Awaaran from Quetta for rescue service.
People were scared and came out from their houses‚ offices and buildings in panic.
Several buildings were damaged due to strong wave of earthquake. No casualty was reported yet.
The tremors were also felt in some parts of India‚ Iran, Dubai and Muscat.
In April a 7.8-magnitude quake centered in southeast Iran, close to the border with Baluchistan, killed 41 people and affected more than 12,000 on the Pakistan side of the border.
A 7.6 magnitude quake in 2005 centered in Kashmir, killed at least 73,000 people and left several million homeless in one of the worst natural disasters to hit Pakistan.
