Earthquake in Pakistan

[minsue]

Big quake rocks Indian subcontinent

29 minutes ago

A major earthquake with a magnitude of at least 7.6 struck Pakistan on Saturday and was felt across the Indian subcontinent, sending people fleeing from their homes into the streets.

There was no immediate word of any serious casualties.

Pakistan's private Geo TV channel reported that the top floors of a 12-storey apartment block in Islamabad had collapsed and an unknown number of people were trapped inside.

The quake was also felt in the Pakistani and Afghan capitals.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) highlighted a large earthquake on its Website between Indian- and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir with a magnitude of 7.6.

It described the quake as "major," saying it took place at 0350 GMT at a depth of 10km (6.2 miles). It was centered 95 km (60 miles) northeast of Islamabad and 125 km (75 miles) northwest of Srinagar.

The USGS's David Applegate told CNN that because the epicenter was relatively close to the surface, the quake was likely to have been felt over a large area.

Japanese quake experts put the magnitude at 7.8. Tokyo measures earthquakes according to a technique similar to the Richter scale but adjusted for Japan's geological characteristics.

"We can say that it was one of the strongest earthquakes (ever) felt in Islamabad," said Mohammad Hanif, an official at the Pakistan Meteorological Department.

SCREAMING IN FEAR

Witnesses and Reuters correspondents could hear people screaming in fear inside their houses in Islamabad during the quake -- which lasted for about a minute -- and car and house alarms were set off by the shaking.

Minutes later sirens could be heard as the emergency services began racing through Islamabad, a city of close to a million people.

The situation was still tense, witnesses said, with residents listening and watching the crows -- which are believed to fall silent immediately before an earthquake.

In Lahore, closer to the epicenter, at least nine people were injured, including eight officials of the paramilitary rangers, who were caught when the roof of their office collapsed, police said.

Screaming people rushed out of apartment buildings in the Indian capital, New Delhi, as the tremors began, a Reuters reporter said.

Indian government officials and the meteorological office said earlier that the quake measured 6.8, and was centered west of Muzaffarabad in Pakistani Kashmir.

Reuters reporters in the Afghan capital, Kabul, also felt the tremors.

Indian officials said the quake was felt throughout northern and central India.

"People are still gathered outside their homes and buildings," a resident of Delhi told Reuters. "They are a bit scared to go back into their homes at the moment.

The area where the quake took place is known for its frequent seismic activity and experts have long predicted an imminent major earthquake in the Himalayan region.

Copyright © 2005 Reuters Limited.

 

[shereads]

I think I've come down with DNS. Disaster Numbness Syndrome. Symptoms: anxiety and/or grief alternating with hysterial giggling. A nervous eyebrow twitch is common. As the disease progresses, sufferers are unable to turn off CNN - not even if Nancy Grace threatens to interview the Aruba Kidnap Mom for the 67th time!

An earthquake, eh? Strong one, too, from what I hear.

I wonder if Nancy Grace is on yet...

 

[English Lady]

Wow, that must be scary. I mean, the tiny little insignificent rumbles we get in the UK are scary (I remember 2 I think) Poor folks.

 

[shereads]

Wow, that must be scary. I mean, the tiny little insignificent rumbles we get in the UK are scary (I remember 2 I think) Poor folks.

I agree. Of the various disasters we can choose from, earthquakes are the one that gives me the absolute creeps. Ever since that elevated freeway collapsed on top of the one below, in San Francisco (back in the '80s?) No warning, no refuge.

 

[Guest]

I agree. Of the various disasters we can choose from, earthquakes are the one that gives me the absolute creeps. Ever since that elevated freeway collapsed on top of the one below, in San Francisco (back in the '80s?) No warning, no refuge.

The Loma Prieta quake of 1989 is what you are referring to. That was the quake that struck as the third game of the World Series was getting underway at Candlestick Park between the SF Giants and the Oakland A's. It caused the collapse of the Cypress freeway structure, and one small section of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

It was a 7.1 quake. With the Richter scale being a logarithmic scale, meaning a 8.0 quake is ten times stronger than a 7.0 quake, today's 7.6 quake was then five times greater than the Loma Prieta quake, I guess.

While that one caused about 60 deaths, a good reason it was not more was California's strong building codes designed with earthquakes in mind. I doubt Pakistan has the same. And I suspect the population density might be greater too.

Wonder how Osama held up in his cave?

 

[Guest]

I think I've come down with DNS. Disaster Numbness Syndrome. Symptoms: anxiety and/or grief alternating with hysterial giggling. A nervous eyebrow twitch is common. As the disease progresses, sufferers are unable to turn off CNN - not even if Nancy Grace threatens to interview the Aruba Kidnap Mom for the 67th time!

An earthquake, eh? Strong one, too, from what I hear.

I wonder if Nancy Grace is on yet...

It's too much, isn't it?

I feel resigned to more tragedies happening in the near future in other locations.

Not worried or angry, just wearily waiting.

to everyone affected.

 

[LadyJeanne]

The Loma Prieta quake of 1989 is what you are referring to. That was the quake that struck as the third game of the World Series was getting underway at Candlestick Park between the SF Giants and the Oakland A's. It caused the collapse of the Cypress freeway structure, and one small section of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

It was a 7.1 quake. With the Richter scale being a logarithmic scale, meaning a 8.0 quake is ten times stronger than a 7.0 quake, today's 7.6 quake was then five times greater than the Loma Prieta quake, I guess.

While that one caused about 60 deaths, a good reason it was not more was California's strong building codes designed with earthquakes in mind. I doubt Pakistan has the same. And I suspect the population density might be greater too.

Wonder how Osama held up in his cave?

I can tell you that New Delhi's housing stock is not built to "code" if they even have such a thing. Except for all the government and military buildings the Brits built, and the temples and mosques. On the plus side, it's not so hard to 'rebuild' the tarp covered lean-to's, and corrugated tin shacks and they probably don't lose lives when those come down.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Wow, that must be scary. I mean, the tiny little insignificent rumbles we get in the UK are scary (I remember 2 I think) Poor folks.

Here in Portugal - well, in Azores islands - there have been earthquakes every day since May, hundreds of 4.0 to 5.0 quakes.

I'm still not sure if there is a huge one coming soon, or if that huge one is slowly letting off steam. Either way, several of the older houses and walls have collapsed, and I can only imagine what it is like trying to get to sleep every night.

 

[English Lady]

Here in Portugal - well, in Azores islands - there have been earthquakes every day since May, hundreds of 4.0 to 5.0 quakes.

I'm still not sure if there is a huge one coming soon, or if that huge one is slowly letting off steam. Either way, several of the older houses and walls have collapsed, and I can only imagine what it is like trying to get to sleep every night.

That must be hell to live with. I'd be a total nervous wreck!

 

[minsue]

Update

BBC NEWS
'Thousands dead' in S Asia quake
People dug through the rubble with bare hands
Pakistani officials say thousands of people may have died in Saturday's powerful quake that also hit northern India and Afghanistan.

The 7.6-magnitude quake with the epicentre 80km (50 miles) north-east of Islamabad wiped out several villages.

More than 3,000 people are feared dead in the worst affected North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Kashmir.

In one incident, 400 children were said to have died when two schools collapsed in NWFP's Mansehra district.

Indian officials reported nearly 300 deaths in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has described the quake as a "test of the nation".

Several countries have offered to send emergency aid.

In a message to Mr Musharraf, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said: "While parts of India have also suffered from this unexpected natural disaster, we are prepared to extend any assistance with rescue and relief which you may deem appropriate."

Help needed

The earthquake, which hit at 0350G MT, was felt as far away as the Afghan capital, Kabul, and India's capital, Delhi. Several aftershocks followed.

The head of police in the NWFP told AFP news agency more than 1,700 had died there alone.

I could only do one thing which was to pick people out of the rubble and with my bare hands I started to dig
Karam Umrani
Islamabad police officer

In Pakistani-controlled Kashmir 250 bodies have been recovered of the more than 2,000 feared dead, an official told the BBC from the provincial capital, Muzaffarabad.

"All official buildings have collapsed," he said.

Landslides have blocked all access roads to Muzaffarabad, where there is no electricity and telephones.

Chief military spokesman Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan warned the death toll could top several thousands in Kashmir alone.

"The loss of life as well as property could be colossal and we need urgent help," he told AFP.

At least 200 Pakistani soldiers were among those killed in the area.

Islamabad collapse

Part of the upmarket Margala Towers residential complex collapsed in Islamabad.

Karam Usmani, a 28-year-old sub-inspector with Islamabad police told the BBC: "I heard the cries of the people in the debris and with my bare hands I started to dig and I pulled out one dead body.

"But I managed to rescue another man of 35 and carried him on my shoulders to the ambulance."

In Indian-administered Kashmir, 15 soldiers were among those killed.

The town of Uri close to the Line of Control that separates divided Kashmir was worst hit, with 104 dead.

The administration is working overtime to restore essential supplies like electricity and water disrupted by the earthquake, says the BBC's Altaf Hussain in Srinagar.

Ben Phillips of Oxfam told the BBC the initial requirement would be for tents, blankets, food aid and medical supplies.

A number of countries have offered help and the United Nations is sending a team to co-ordinate the relief effort.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/4323008.stm

Published: 2005/10/08 19:36:36 GMT

© BBC MMV


http://i.walmart.com/i/p/00/02/55/42/41/0002554241397_215X215.jpg

 

[neonlyte]

What can one say - 'There but for the grace of God' comes to mind.

 

[yui]

What must it be like?

 

[Liar]

Just saw a massive pile of rubble that used to be a town on TV. *shudder*

 

[juanjsojr]

how sad

all those people and all those kids who died it's so sad

 

[shereads]

It's too much, isn't it?

I feel resigned to more tragedies happening in the near future in other locations.

Not worried or angry, just wearily waiting.

to everyone affected.

I'll bet Red Cross fundraising in the U.S. will be a challenge right now. Donations for Hurricane Katrina broke the record set in December when the tsunamis were in the news. There's a danger that people really will grow numb, and stop giving at all unless something happens close to home.

 

[minsue]

There's a danger that people really will grow numb, and stop giving at all unless something happens close to home.

That's not new. People, or at least Americans, never seem to care unless it's close to home.

Pakistan puts quake toll at 18,000

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- The Pakistan earthquake toll has reached 18,000 dead and 41,000 injured, Pakistan military spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan has told CNN.

Sultan said the information the Pakistan government had on Sunday morning was that 18,000 was the number of confirmed dead from the magnitude 7.6 quake that struck Pakistan and parts of India and Afghanistan on Saturday morning.

Sultan said it was possible the toll could be much higher and the scale of the devastation was the biggest in Pakistan's experience.

He said the information being received by the government was that another 41,000 people had been hurt in the quake.

Emergency workers on Sunday are continuing to pull out the trapped, treat the injured and feed the homeless survivors of the earthquake that devastated the south Asian subcontinent Saturday.

Before Sultan's update, the confirmed death toll in India and Pakistan stood at 1,337, with estimates varying widely.

More than 1,000 of the deaths had been reported in Pakistan and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir.