Daily Times

PASNI: A strong 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit various areas of Balochistan in the early hours of Wednesday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) confirmed.

No human casualities were reported so far. However, some houses and walls have collapsed in Pasni, with the region along with Turbat, Gwadar and other adjoining areas affected.

The earthquake hit the area at 3.03 AM when people were asleep with the epicentre of the quake some 23 kilometres southwest of Pasni. Citizens awoke from deep sleep in shock and rushed out of homes amid panic. The district administrations also issued high alerts and precautionary measures.

Pakistan Weather Portal’s (PWP) report states that earthquake activity in Pakistan is mainly concentrated in the north and western sections of the country; along the boundary of the Indian plate and the Iranian and Afghan micro-plates. It includes the Chaman Fault which runs along Pakistan’s western frontier with Afghanistan from Kalat, in the northern Makran range, past Quetta and then on to Kabul, Afghanistan.

A fault also runs along the Makran coast and is believed to be of the same nature as the West Coast fault along the coast of Maharashtra in India. An active subduction zone, the point where tectonic plates meet, exists off the Makran coast. Four other faults exist in and around Karachi and other parts of deltaic Indus and Makran coast. The first is the Allah Bund fault that passes through Shahbundar, Jah, Pakistan Steel Mills and runs through eastern parts of the city and ends near Cape Monz. This fault, in fact, has caused extensive damage in past centuries in the deltaic areas.

A list of major, historic earthquakes which have affected Pakistan since its inception includes; December 28, 1974 earthquake with 6.2 magnitude on Richter Scale which hit districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, causing 5,300 peoples deaths; October 8, 2005 earthquake with 7.8 magnitude which devastated parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Kashmir, killing 80,000 people; October 29, 2008 earthquake with 6.4 magnitude which hit Ziarat district, leaving 216 people dead; January 18, 2011 earthquake with 7.2  magnitude that struck Balochistan in which two people were killed; a 24 September 2013 earthquake of 7.8 magnitude that struck Awaran district of Balochistan and killed 370 people. September 28, 2013 earthquake with 6.2 magnitude which again hit Balochistan’s Awaran district, killing 400 people; May 8, 2014 earthquake with magnitude 4.5 that struck Sindh, causing two deaths. In addition in October 2015, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake in Pakistan and Afghanistan killed almost 400 people.