Hi Readers,
Yesterday, I was having a late lunch, when a tremor shook the area, spilling my coffee on the floor. But I am one of the lucky ones who’ve gotten off easy. Unfortunately, there has been severe damage in Mirpur District, causing the deaths of 40 people and injuring a further 850.
The earthquakestruck regions of Pakistan with an epicenter in Azad Kashmir on 24 September at 16:02 local time (11:02 UTC). It had a magnitude of 5.6 Mw and a maximum felt intensity of VII (very strong) on the Modified Mercalli scale.
The epicenter of the shallow quake was near the city of Mirpur, Pakistan. The tremors were felt in the Kashmir region, Punjab (Pakistan), Punjab (India), Uttarakhand and northern parts of India including New Delhi.
The earthquake caused severe damage to 135 houses in Mirpur District, with a further 319 being partially damaged, most in Mirpur and just four in Bhimber District. Two bridges were reported damaged and parts of several roads were affected, particularly 14 km of the Main Jatlan Road.
According to the chairman of Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), "In Mirpur, besides the city, a small town Jatlan, and two small villages Manda and Afzalpur" were among the worst-hit areas. According to him, the main road which runs alongside a river from Mangla to Jatlan suffered major damage.
According to the officials, the Mangla Dam, Pakistan's major water reservoir, was spared. However, the dam's power house was closed, which resulted in a loss of 900 megawatts to Pakistan's national power grid. At 7:20 pm, power generation at Mangla was resumed, restoring 700 MW to the national grid.
According to a media report, cracks and fissures had appeared in the Upper Jhelum canal. Flood water had managed to enter the Chak Nigah village in Jatlan town. The canal was subsequently shut as a precautionary measure.
Forty people have died and more than 850 injured as per the reports published on 26 September. Of those who died, thirty-three were in Mirpur District, four in Bhimber District, and one more in Jhelum District.
Reuters reported, citing architects that the large number of casualties were due to shoddy building construction methods and weak construction standards in Pakistan.
Sardar Gulfaraz Khan, the deputy inspector general of police for Mirpur district, stated that a large number of deaths were caused due to the collapse of old houses in the villages.
The Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Farooq Haider Khan, cut short a visit to Lahore and went back to his native region immediately after the reports of the damage emerged.
NDMA vehicles laden with 200 tents, 800 blankets, 200 kitchen sets and 100 medical kits were dispatched to affected areas.
Today’s entry in the blog is a different from the usual topics we talk about here, but I wanted to reflect the damage caused by yesterday’s earthquake and how we can help them.
Love x Peace.
Zeeshan
To help the earthquake victims, you can donate here,
Rifa Trust, Account No. 1234567-8, Alias Bank
Camp 2 Foundation, Account No. 1234567-8, Hash Bank
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