Table of Contents:

1. Summary2. Cause of Earthquake 3. Seismic details4. Area affected5. Hazard losses

5.1. Peoples effected 5.2. Health Facilities destroyed 5.3. Educational Instituted Damaged

6. References

Table of Figures:

Figure 1: Areas affected due to earthquake.Figure 2: Villages affected at union council level.Figure 3: Map of earthquake range by United Nations.Figure 4: Demolished BHU at Awaran District.Figure 5: Demolished school building at Awaran District.Figure 6: Infrastructure status map after the earthquake. Figure 7: Estimated affected population and Nutrition beneficiaries.Figure 8: Houses affected at Awaran and Kech District.Figure 9: Status of health facilities after earthquake.Figure 10: Children not going school after earthquake.Figure 11: Status of educational facilities after earthquake.

1

Real life event assignment on:

Balochistan Earthquake 2013(Environmental Geology)

1. Summary:This natural hazard occurred at the afternoon of the September 24, 2013, when everyone in Pakistan felt the shaking of the ground by tremendous earthquake that struck the Awaran District in the western Balochistan Province of Pakistan. The earthquake's epicenter was near the Awaran District, but others districts of Balochistan — Turbat, Panjgur, Chaghai, Khuzdar and Gwadar were also affected. According to the reports, tremors from the earthquake, which registered to be of 7.7-7.8 magnitude on the Richter scale, These ground shakes were also felt in Quetta, Hub, Kharan, Jhal Magsi, Qalat, Sibi, Mastung, Jafferabad and Karachi Pakistan and as far away as UAE.

2. Cause of Earthquake:This earthquake in south-central Pakistan occurred as the result of oblique-strike-slip type motion at shallow crustal depths. The location and mechanism of the earthquake are consistent with rupture within the Eurasia plate above the Makran subduction zone. The event occurred within the transition zone between northward subduction of the Arabia plate beneath the Eurasia plate and northward collision of the India plate with the Eurasia plate. The epicenter of the event is 69km north of Awaran, Pakistan, and 270km north of Karachi, Pakistan (population 11.6 million). On a broad scale, the tectonics of southern and central Pakistan reflect a complex plate boundary where the India plate slides northward relative to the Eurasia plate in the east, and the Arabia plate subducts northward beneath the Eurasia plate in the Makran (western Pakistan). These motions typically result in north-south to northeast-southwest strike-slip motion at the latitude of the September 24 earthquake that is primarily accommodated on the Chaman Fault, with the earthquake potentially occurring on one of the southern-most strands of this fault system.

3. Seismic details:The United States Geological Survey reported that the earthquake took place on Tuesday 24 September 2013 at 11:29:48 UTC at 26.971°N 65.520°E. The depth of the earthquake was reported to be 15 kilometers (9.3 mi). Pakistan's National Seismic Monitoring Centre reported the Mw 7.7 quake occurred at 16:29:49 PKT(UTC+5:00) at 27.09°N 65.61°E at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 mi). The earthquake reportedly lasted about a minute, causing panic in cities of southern Pakistan such as Karachi and Hyderabad.

2

The earthquake was felt in major cities across Pakistan, including Karachi, Hyderabad, Rawalpindi/Islamabad, Larkana, and Lahore. The quake was also felt in Delhi, India, where some buildings shook, and Muscat, Oman—800 kilometers (500 mi) from the epicenter—where mild tremors shook tables and cabinets. The earthquake shook in the parts of UAE, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and as far as Qatar. The earthquake also shook Saravan, Iran without causing any damage or casualties. There were also minor tremors and aftershocks in the United Arab Emirates.

4. Area effected:

Although the vibrations of this earthquake shocked earth as far as Qatar and Delhi, the actual effected area where causalities and infrastructure damage has occurred lies in Balochistan province. In Balochistan, two districts known as Awaran and Kech were severely damaged affecting their 300,000 population. These two districts are further divided into 3 tehsils having 8 union councils. Several villages were wiped out in result of this earthquake. Below is the table showing the division of earthquake effected areas:

3

Figure: 1

Figure: 2

4

5. Hazard Losses:The area of Awaran and Kech district is already a remote area of Balochistan. The distance to nearby cities is at least 200km and there is no road network available for transport. This situation elevated number of deaths and injuries as there no hospitals or rescue teams in the area. Careful estimates tell that at least 825 deaths and more than thousand injuries recorded in the area. Nearly 20,000 houses were affected and Infrastructure of community buildings like schools and hospitals were completely destroyed in the area. Shelter was not available for the injured or suffering people. Nearby DHQ hospital of Awaran had no such space to treat the injured people and medical facilities were seriously lacking in the area. Food and Drinking water were also lacking in the areas, as all the food storage. After few day of the incident when everybody was busy in the rescue operations and remains of the incident were still there; 2nd earthquake of 6.8m hit the District Awaran on 28th September. In this earthquake 28 immediate deaths were reported at Tehsil Mashkay of District Awaran. UC Nokjo that was partially affected in the previous earthquake was severally affected as per reports.

5

Figure: 4

Figure: 5

6

5.1 Peoples effected:It is estimated that a total of 185,000 people were effected and Awaran and Kech district of Balochistan. Almost 65% of houses of the area were destroyed and around 234 families left their villages. The following tables further elaborate this calamity:

5.2 Health facilities destroyed:This region is already remote in terms of health and education sector. The earthquake didn’t show the mercy and destroyed almost whole health infrastructure. Below is the table showing total health facilities in area of Awaran and number of fully destroyed/damaged facilities:

7

Figure: 9

Figure: 8

Figure: 7

5.3 Educational institutes destroyed:The earthquake affected the educational sector as much as it affected any other infrastructure in this area. Nearly 170 schools were damaged or destroyed making it impossible for about 15,835 children to carry on their basic studies. Following tables provide facts and figures regarding damage to education sector:

6. References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Pakistan_earthquake http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/poster/2013/20130924.php http://www.livescience.com/39958-what-caused-pakistan-earthquake-island.html http://earthquake-report.com/2013/09/24/massive-earthquake-pakistan-on-september-24-

2013/ http://pakresponse.info/BalochistanEarthquake2013.aspx http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Earthquake%20Report

%202013%20Update.pdf http://pakresponse.info/Portals/0/Emergencies/Eq%202013/Balochistan%20Earthquake

%202013%20Report%2023%20Oct_Final.pdf

The End

8

Figure: 11

Figure: 10