Ziarat - Earthquake

Earthquake

On the morning of October 29, 2008 around 4:00 am the town and surrounding areas were struck by an earthquake. The first was a 6.2 magnitude but lasted a couple of seconds the next followed at a magnitude of 6.4 lasting almost 30 seconds destroying many mud houses leaving several government buildings destroyed as well.

Neighbouring villages were also badly affected by the earthquake. Over 50,000 people have been made homeless and 300 feared dead.Landslides had cut-off many roads and accessibility to the area was made more difficult. Pakistani military helicopters were used to reach mountainous and remote locations, where some villages had been cut off by landslides. The scale of the disaster is quite extensive but much of the experience learned from the October 2005 earthquake which struck northern Pakistan was effectively put into place. The aftershocks were also felt in the city of Quetta causing widespread alarm. The rescue and relief squad of Chiltan Adventurers Association Balochistan sponsored by Pakistan Customs Quetta distributed the relief goods to the affected mountainous and remote areas, the same team rescued and helped the survivors jointly with the co-operation of the Chinese search and rescue team in Balakot earthquake 2005. Many of the same group also helped survivors of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, which killed over 75,000 people.In 1935, Quetta suffered almost complete destruction in 1935 Balochistan earthquake which claimed the lives of about 30,000 people.

Pakistan sits atop an area of seismic collision between the Eurasian, Iranian Plateau and Indian tectonic plates, the same force that created the Himalayan mountains.

Coordinates: 30°22′52″N 67°43′37″E / 30.3810°N 67.7270°E / 30.3810; 67.7270