Hajira Parvaiz
(IIUI)
One of the worst natural calamities is the earthquake, which can cause a widespread destruction to life and property. There are many places which have experienced some of the worst earthquakes in the history of mankind. An earthquake is a seismic activity that occurs inside the Earth’s crust as a result of sudden release of energy.
Though there are earthquakes of high magnitude, one of the major earthquakes in China that can be said as what has been the worst earthquake in history is the Shaanxi earthquake. Due to 1819 earthquake Shah Bunder port was abandoned and two new creeks namely Kukaiwari and Kadewari came in to existence between 1819 and 1837.
Overall the earthquake killed some 3,200 people in Pakistan.
An earthquake in Pakistan from the year 1931 till 2011 Pakistan has seen many major earthquake including a tsunami in 1945, two years before independence.
At 3:02 am PST at Quetta, a powerful earthquake rocked the city and surrounding areas. The earthquake had a magnitude of 7.7 and anywhere between 30,000 and 60,000 people died from the impact. This ranks as one of the deadliest earthquakes that hit South Asia.
The natural disaster ranks as the 23rd most deadly earthquake worldwide to date. In the aftermath of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, the experts cited the earthquake as being amongst the four deadliest earthquakes the South Asian region has seen; the others being the Kashmir earthquake in 2005, Pasni earthquake in 1945 and Kangra earthquake in 1905.
On 28 November 1945 at 1:56 am (local time), a massive earthquake, off Pakistan’s Makran Coast generated a destructive tsunami in the Northern Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.
Its epicentre was at 24.5 N 63.0 E., in the northern Arabian Sea, about 100 km south of Karachi and about 87 km SSW of Churi (Balochistan), Pakistan. The earthquake was of 8.1 magnitudes, major quake. A total of 4,000 people were killed.
1974 Hunza Earthquake was a magnitude of 6.2 and hit Hunza, Hazara and Swat districts of northern Pakistan on December 28, 1974. The quake had a shallow focal depth and was followed by numerous aftershocks. An official estimate of the number killed was 5,300 with approximately 17,000 injured.
A total of 97,000 were reported affected by the tremor. Most of the destruction was centre around the village of Pattan, located about 100 miles north of the capital city of Islamabad. The village was almost completely destroyed.
In 2005, earthquake was 7.6-Richter scale quake struck the Kashmir region on the India-Pakistan border and parts of northwestern Pakistan on 8 October 2005. According to official figures, at least 73,000 people were killed and more than 3.3 million made homeless. Work even continues today to rebuild the damaged infrastructure. This earthquake has been blamed for the economic down fall of Pakistan as in 2005 Pakistan’s economy was rising.
In 2011, an earthquake of magnitude of 7.2 rocked south-western Pakistan. The United States Geological Survey reported the earthquake took place on January 19 at 01:23 am PST. The depth of the earthquake was reported to be 84 kilometers. 2 women died due to this earthquake in Pakistan due to heart attack.
As you may know, earthquakes happen without giving enough warning. They occur at any given point of time and any time during the year.
Big or small, earthquakes are becoming more and more regular throughout the U.S. continent. Safety tips for an earthquake, along with planning ahead of time, can help you save yours and your family’s lives, when an earthquake happens, you don’t want to be caught unprepared.
As a precautionary method to keep you and your family safe, act before the sudden strike of an earthquake. So, by all the research work I concluded that although earthquakes cannot be predicted but we Pakistanis must take every step to ensure that 2005 and 2014 earthquake is not repeated because if that happens again then the sticks that are holding Pakistan will collapse and eventually it will be the collapse of Pakistan. All major cities of Pakistan are located on the fault line, which also crosses the centre of Margalla Hills.
No matter what anyone says we Pakistanis should be ready for a big earthquake in future. At least that is what history tells us!