An earthquake of severe intensity measuring 7.4 on the Richter Scale struck Pakistan and adjacent region early on Wednesday, with its epicentre being 150 kms in the north-west of Kharan in Balochistan, at the confluence of Pakistan-Iran-Afghanistan border, according to US Geological Survey.
This makes the earthquake's severity only 0.2 degrees less than that of the 2005 tumbler that had laid large swathes of territory in the then NWFP (now KP) and Azad Kashmir flattened, killing about 80,000 people, and leaving over three million people homeless, many of whom are said to be still housed in shelters. Jolts have been felt in major urban centres of the country such as Karachi and Lahore. It is too early to provide a credible damage or casualty assessment, though going by the quake's severity it should have. Mercifully we were spared the severe damage that the devastating 2005 quake caused, one of the severest to hit the region.
With their experience of 2005 devastating earthquake, the government agencies must now be better prepared to handle the emergency, and it is hoped that the amount of fumbling and confusion that was witnessed in 2005 will not be on display, should God forbid, the need arise. Pakistan sits on earthquake fault lines and is prone to tremors. The 2005 tumbler had exposed many administrative and operational shortcomings, which had led to the confusion in the rescue and relief operations.
Incidentally, use of substandard construction material even in some of the poshest Islamabad localities was exposed, though nothing much is known about what happened to those responsible for this. If some of the poshest structures in Islamabad could not withstand the first few jolts of an earthquake of almost equal intensity in 2005, it is quite possible that the structural damage in Karachi and elsewhere could have been severe had the depth of this quake not been substantially different from the one in 2005. The government needs to operationalise all its relevant departments and agencies, including ERRA, to remain prepared to handle such emergencies. The way the authorities combated the aftermath of the severe floods in Queensland, Australia about two weeks ago, is a case study in disaster management and ERRA would do well to learn from it.
The 2005 earthquake had provided useful seismic data on regions in the country that are prone to earthquake devastation. Fault lines exist not only in upper parts of the country but also Karachi that is the only port city of the country and hub of industry and trade. There is therefore a constant threat to safety of people and infrastructure. A related aspect is the development and use of earthquake-resistant material and better construction techniques to avoid damage to infrastructure in future. The government needs to fine-tune the policy it had structured in the wake of 2005 earthquake. A government's effectiveness lies in preparedness of its departments and agencies.