M7.7 EARTHQUAKE STRIKES WESTERN PAKISTAN

(Distant Locations Feel Shaking From Shallow Earthquake)

September 24, 2013

Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, Vienna,

Virginia, USA 

LOCATION OF PAKISTAN

4:29 PM, SEPT. 24, 2013

• At 4:29 pm local time, a dangerous time of the day, a magnitude-7.7 earthquake occurred at a SHALLOW depth of 23 km in a seismically active area 63 km (36 miles) from the city of Awaran, located in Pakistan’s Balochistan Province.

TECTONIC SETTING

• According to the US Geological Survey, the earthquake, which had a relatively shallow depth, was centered at a complex triple junction in the Earth’s subsurface where the Arabian tectonic plate is pushing its way beneath the Eurasian plate as the Indian plate is ramming both of them from the south:

A COMPLEX TECTONIC SETTING

A COMPLEX TECTONIC SETTING

A COMPLEX TECTONIC SETTING

A COMPLEX TECTONIC SETTING

UNIQUE HAPPENING: THE QUAKE’S TECTONICS CREATED AN ISLAND

ISLAND CREATED DURING THE QUAKE

ISLAND: EARTHQUAKE OR VOLCANO RELATED?

NEW ISLAND EMMITING POISONOUS GAS

• The new island, now extending 20 m (60-70 feet) above the water, began emitting poisonous methane gas on September 26.

DEATHS

EARLY REPORTS OF DEATHS

• Early reports indicate that at least 350 people died and 450 were injured as the result of collapses of mud brick houses and poorly constructed buildings.

• 90 present of Anwaran destroyed.

MUD BRICK HOUSES COLLAPSED

RUBBLE EVERYWHERE

BUILDINGS COLLAPSED

MAJESHIFT PROTECTION FROM THE SUN

EXTRACTING A CAR FROM THE RUBBLE

ANWARAN: A 12-BED HOSPITAL OVERWHELMED

OVERFLOW IN MAKESHIFT HOSPITAL

A GRIM OUTLOOK

• The death toll will likely increase.

• You don’t need to be an earthquake engineer to know that an earthquake in this remote part of Pakistan, where homes are made of mud brick or rubble masonry, will lead to more building collapses and a much higher mortality and morbidity toll than for a similar earthquake in Italy or California.

SHAKING FELT OVER A WIDE AREA

• People ran outside buildings in Karachi, Hyderabad, Larkana and other towns and cities of the Sindh province, and as far away as Lahore, Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

• Shaking was also felt in New Delhi and some other parts of northern India..

THE QUAKE WAS FELT STRONGLY IN KARACHI (710 km (430 miles))

KARACHI’S WORKDAY IS OVER

Long traffic jams were seen on the roads of Karachi as people, concerned about the inevitable aftershocks, left office early.

RELIEF

Planning Good During First 24 Hours, but Implementation

Slow during first 3 Days

LOCATION OF QUETTA, THE PROVENCIAL CAPITAL

RELIEF OPERATIONS PLANNING BEGAN IMMEDIATELY. . .

BUT IMPLEMENTATION WAS SLOWED BY FACTORS RANGING

FROM TRAFFIC JAMS TO A ROCKET ATTACK

QUICK RESPONSE

• Province officials declared a state-of- emergency in Awaran, where 90 percent of Balochistan’s largest district was destroyed.

90 PERCENT OF ANWARAN REDUCED TO RUBBLE

LOW MORALE IN STRICKEN REGION

• People in the stricken area feel they have been neglected for decades – they cite lack of schools, roads, health care facilities, and civil provisions here as proof.

CURRENT PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS

• “If the government had paid attention to these areas before the quake and built health and medical facilities (which are currently nonexistent), things would not have been so bad.

• “Many of the critically injured will die because they are not receiving timely help.”

QUICK RESPONSE

• The army planned to dispatch relief, rescue, and medical teams, 300 soldiers, and a helicopter to the worst-hit areas located seven to eight hours' drive from Quetta, the provincial capital

SOLDIERS LEAVING KARACHI: 710 KM FROM DISASTER ZONE

MILITARY LOADING SUPPLIES

A RELIEF TEAM LOADING SUPPLIES

HINDERANCES IN FIRST 24 HOURS

• In the first 24 hours no one could reach the villages in the remote, hardest hit areas, and …

• Most of the aid was stuck in Quetta, the provincial capital, because of concerns about security and internal civil strife in the impacted area.

SEPT. 25: RELIEF OPERATIONS SLOWED EVEN MORE

• Two rockets were fired unsuccessfully from the ground at a military helicopter taking relief supplies to the stricken areas;

• Understandably, operations thereafter were slowed and many villages have not received help

MILITARY HELICOPTER

A 2013 WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY?

• Local social workers say September 2013 could be an opportune moment for the government to win the hearts and minds of those who are disillusioned.

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A WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY? (Continued)

• “It is a great opportunity to reach out to the locals through aid, and it is never too late to show them that you care,” said Mohammad Dawood, who heads the National Welfare Organization, a local nongovernmental organization in Balochistan, and who has been attempting to provide aid in the stricken area.

REMEMBERING THE 2008 EARTHQUAKE IN PAKISTAN

2008 PAKISTAN EARTHQUAKE

2008 PAKISTAN EARTHQUAKE

• The earthquake struck near Quetta, the capitol of Baluchistan Province.

• Quetta, hit by a devastating earthquake in 1935, is located in a known fault zone caused by ongoing collision of the Indo-Australian and Eurasian plates.

2008 PAKISTAN EARTHQUAKE

• Ziarat, located in the hills and one of the poorest areas of Pakistan, was devastated by landslides and collapse of mud brick houses.

• Early estimates indicate that as many as 12,000 are now homeless in 40 degree weather.

2008 PAKISTAN EARTHQUAKE

2008 PAKISTAN EARTHQUAKE

2008 PAKISTAN EARTHQUAKE

2008 PAKISTAN EARTHQUAKE

2008 PAKISTAN EARTHQUAKE: LEAVING WITH BELONGINGS

2008 PAKISTAN EARTHQUAKE: RESCUE WORKERS ARRIVE

PAKISTAN AIR FORCE ORGANIZING RELIEF

REMEMBERING THE 2005 EARTHQUAKE IN PAKISTAN

2005 EARTHQUAKE

• 80,000 were Killed in the M7.6 earthquake that struck Kashmir and Islamabad in northern Pakistan in October 2005.

OCTOBER 8, 2005 PAKISTAN EARTHQUAKE

LONG-TERM RECOVERY NEEDS AFTER EARTHQUAKE DISASTER

• NEED: 2 TO 3 MILLION NEW DWELLINGS THAT ARE EARTHQUAKE RESILIENT.

• NEED: NEW SCHOOLS THAT ARE EARTHQUAKE RESILIENT.

• NEED: NEW HOSPITALS THAT ARE EARTHQUAKE RESILIENT.

• NEED: INFRASTRUCTURE THAT IS EARTHQUAKE RESILIENT(Public Health for example).