In Pakistan

Case study

Isabella Joseph
Class 8
29th of May, 2013

Why do earthquakes occur in Pakistan?

When two plates exert a pressure against each other and the
pressure between them builds up over time, it is usually released in
the form of an earthquake. Scientifically, an earthquake is the
sudden release of energy in the earths crust that creates seismic
waves. According to humans on
earth, it is the vibration of the crust
that causes mass destruction and loss of life
and property. Earthquakes are not only
drastically violent ways of taking life
away, but also natural calamities that
have enormous after effects; to the
regions economy and population.
Pakistan, (as the picture beside suggests) is a region that is very much
prone to earthquakes. The Indian sub-continent lies in the Indian plate that is constantly
clashing towards the Eurasian plate. As Pakistan lies right at the plate boundary, it is vulnerable
to many earthquakes due to mammoth collisions that occur between both the plates.
Earthquakes happen mostly where the earth's tectonic plates collide. In Pakistan, quake activity
is mainly concentrated in the northern and western sections of the country, along the boundary
of the Indian, Iranian and Eurasian plates. Seismic activity in South Asia is a direct result of the
collision of the Indian and the Eurasian plates, which results from the north-western motion of
the Indian Plate at the rate of4-5 cm per year (Figure 1). The resulting collision has fractured the
Indian plate into several slices beneath the Kashmir Basin and is known as the Indus-Kohistan
seismic zone The Indian plate is moving north at about 5cm a year, resulting in a force on the
southern edge of the Tibetan plateauthe force that generates the Himalayas. As a result,
earthquakes occur along the Himalayas all the way to Myanmar. (The movement of the Indian
plate also caused the devastating Sumatra-Andaman earthquake and tsunami a few years ago.)

Intensity of the earthquakes

The most recent earthquake that occurred in Pakistan was in 2011. It had a magnitude of 7.2
and the fortunately the epicentre was located in a sparsely populated area. The earthquake
was really strong and tremors after the quake was felt by neighbouring
countries like India, Bahrain, U.A.E, Oman, Iran and Afghanistan. Before
that numerous earthquakes had occurred in the previous years:
Date

October 21st, 1909

Magnitude

Deaths (estimate)

100

February 1st, 1929

August 24th, 1931

(no information
available)
(no information

August 27, 1931

7.4

May 31st, 1935

7.7

available)
(no information
available)
30,000 - 60,000

November 28th, 1945

7.8

4,000

December 28th, 1974

6.2

5,300

October 8th, 2005

7.8

100,000

October 29th, 2008

6.4

215

January 18th 2011

7.2

170

As the table shows, earthquakes in Pakistan are not only very frequent but also of a
comparatively high magnitude. Pakistan lies at a plate boundary and it is geographically
vulnerable to tremendously destructive earthquakes. This graph might help to understand better.

9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

no. of earthquakes
average-magnitude

The average of the magnitude from the data I collected is 7 on the Richter scale, which is quite
a large magnitude. Also there were about 10 violent earthquakes in that region in the past 90100 years. Being very susceptible to earthquakes like these, it is vital that proper methods to
prevent these calamities are taken.

Earthquake prevention methods

Unfortunately, there werent any clear examples of earthquake prevention methods taking place
in Pakistan. Pakistan, being an LEDC, had quite a lot of difficulty in rescuing all those who were
under the damage of the earthquake and did not put a lot of effort into preventing earthquakes
in the future, probably due to the lack of economic income. But some action was taken:

Northern Areas of Pakistan, like Gilgit- Baltistan, was inhabited by around 1.5 million
people and being a mountainous region, was geographically vulnerable to many kinds of
natural hazards. Keeping in view of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, Pakistan with the
support of HOPE`87 and Austrian development cooperation launched a two year project
called Education and Training for Risk and Prevention in Earthquake areas of Pakistan
(ETRP) to raise awareness of local people and build the capacities of unskilled and
semiskilled persons of the region in calamity safe construction techniques.
New World Hope Organization's School Earthquake Safety and Preparedness Training
project was started in 2009 with a purpose to promote a culture of earthquake safety in
the schools of Pakistan. School Earthquake Safety and Preparedness Training Program
were organized by New World Hope Organization. In this project, NWHO staff work to
mitigate hazards and to provide basic disaster awareness and earthquake preparedness
training.

Additionally, according to a report [Prepared by the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD)

and Norsar (Norwegian Seismic Array) in 2007] a number of efforts have been launched to
improve earthquake safety, but the needs are massive, and much work remains to be done. As
the examples prove, the action taken was not very active, and Pakistan might be affected
drastically if another powerful earthquake triggers in the same area.

Impacts of the earthquake on Pakistan and its economy

It is estimated that more than 780,000 buildings were either destroyed or damaged beyond
repair, and many more were rendered unusable for extended periods of time. Out of these,
approximately 17,000 school buildings and most major hospitals close to the epicentre were
destroyed or severely damaged. Lifelines were adversely affected, especially the numerous vital
roads and highways that were closed by landslides and bridge failures. Several areas remained
cut off via land routes even three months after the main event. Power, water supply, and
telecommunication services were down for varying lengths of time, although in most areas
services were restored within a few weeks.

International lenders estimate damages and reconstruction costs from Pakistan's deadly
earthquake will total almost US$5 billion, an implacably high amount. Also doctors are trying
hard to treat the injured and get rid of other water borne diseases that spread due to flooding.
News reports say that the cost for repairing bridges, building, schools and reconstructing other
parts of infrastructure would up to a startling amount of US$2.65 billion. The government of
Pakistan is so trying its best to reduce and cover up the damage done by the earthquake, that it
will be quite tough for Pakistan to improve on technologies and other methods to prevent
earthquakes in the future.

Conclusion
Pakistan is an area that has been and still is a major target for earthquakes. Pakistan, being an
LEDC has had hard times in improving methods to prevent the destruction created by an
earthquake, and due this it was hard to find concrete evidences and examples of earthquake
damage prevention technologies. I could probably improve this by researching more and
reading books related to earthquakes in that region.
Also patterns could not be found between the earthquakes as they are very untimely, but I was
able to find that the average magnitude of the earthquakes were about 7, a comparatively high
amount. I could have researched more by analysing and viewing the graphs designed by
professionals in various books.

Sources:
http://www.pmdnmcc.net/seismic/latestearthquakes.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Pakistan
http://www.dripireland.org/earthquake.php
http://earthquaketrack.com/p/pakistan/recent