At least 20 people have been confirmed dead and about 300 injured following a 5.7 magnitude earthquake that struck southern Pakistan in the early hours of Thursday, October 6, 2021. According to the Disaster Management Authority in the country, the victims, who were mostly women and children were asleep when the quake occurred.
Recall that in 1935, a 7.7-magnitude earthquake hit Quetta, killing between 30,000 and 60,000 people and destroying much of the city. In 2006 also, some 73,000 people were killed by a 7.6 magnitude quake that struck about 95 km (60 miles) northeast of the capital, Islamabad.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has it that the latest earthquake struck at the relatively shallow depth of 20 km (12 miles) with an epicentre 102 km (62 miles) east of the city of Quetta, Reports have it that more than 100 mud houses collapsed and many buildings were damaged even as a television footage showed buildings with gaping cracks, caved in roofs and crumpled walls.
Deputy commissioner in the city of Harnai, Sohail Anwar told the media that hundreds of people were homeless. Social media showed houses shaking and light fittings swaying as the quake struck even as residents later gathered in the streets in the dark. CCTV footage aired on Geo television also showed transport trucks shaking.
As rescuers searched through the rubble, some of the injured were treated on stretchers in the street under telephone torch light.
A resident-identified as Muzaffar Khan Tareen- who was an eyewitness to the earthquake said it struck at around 3 a.m. “The seriously injured people are in hospital and they are waiting for ambulances to be moved to Quetta” he said.
An army helicopter airlifted at least nine of the seriously injured to Quetta, the state- run Associated Press Pakistan reported. Aftershocks were being felt across the region. Pakistan is known to sit on top of colliding tectonic plates and earthquakes are common.
