A two-year-old minor girl was killed and three sustained injuries as a powerful 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck Islamabad and various cities of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan and Azad Kashmir, and neighbouring Afghanistan on Wednesday
ISLAMABAD,(Pakistan Point News - 31st Jan, 2018 ) : A two-year-old minor girl was killed and three sustained injuries as a powerful 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck Islamabad and various cities of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan and Azad Kashmir, and neighbouring Afghanistan on Wednesday. According to details, the casualty occurred in Balochistan’s Lasbela district where the roof of a dilapidated house collapsed after the quake and the emergency has been declared in Civil Hospital.
As a result one girl was killed and eleven other people were injured. Cracks also emerged in many houses in Hub. According to the geological wing of Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), tremors measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale were felt in Islamabad, Swat, Mingora, Landi Kotal, Batkhela, Malakand, Abbottabad, Peshawar and surroundings. Strong tremors also shook Lahore, Quetta, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Sheikhupura, Sargodha, Jhelum, Nankana, Chiniot, , Muzaffarabad, Lasbela, Safdarabad, Sharaqpur, Dir, Malakand and Mianwali where frightened residents ran out of homes while offices and schools were quickly evacuated.
Officials dispatched teams in Balochistan and nearby Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to assess reports of damage. Four girl students were injured in a Peshawar Hospital as they rushed out of class rooms. However the National Disaster Management Authority did not expect serious losses, a spokesman said. The earthquake originated around 169 kilometers below the earth’s surface, with the epicentre located in mountains of Hindu Kush near Afghanistan’s Jarm, which was hit by a devastating 7.
5 magnitude quake in October 2015 that triggered landslides and flattened buildings, killing more than 380 people across the region. Parliament sessions in Islamabad was adjourned due to the tremors. Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed the relief agencies to remain alert in case of any untoward incident in the province. He has also ordered the concerned authorities to monitor the situation and stay vigilant. The quake was felt in the Afghan capital Kabul, where an official said at least three people were injured in northeastern Badakhshan province near the border with Pakistan.
