A woman and a child were killed in devastating earthquake of 7.7 magnitudes on Monday, which created a panic among residents of twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Soon after the earthquake, the district administration of twin cities declared emergency in all big hospitals of the twin cities including Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Polyclinic and district headquarters hospital, Rawalpindi.
As many as two bodies including a woman and 25 injured shifted to different hospitals of Rawalpindi and seven injured were shifted to various hospitals of the federal capital. Spokesman 1122 Rawalpindi, Farooq said that a body of a woman namely Perveen and the 25 injured were shifted to different hospitals of Rawalpindi. The woman suffered a heart attack and died after she felt earthquake, he added.
He said that a house was partially caved in at Raja Bazaar and wall of a house collapsed at a Bird market in Rawalpindi as a result of earthquake. A senior official of Rawalpindi district administration said that cracks have been developed in plazas as well as old residential and commercial buildings due to tremors. A five-year-old child was killed after falling from the rooftop of a house when severe earthquake hit the city.
"As many as seven persons with minor injures were shifted to PIMS who were discharged after administrating necessary medical treatment", said Dr Waseem Khawaja of PIMS. Following the tremour, the government officials, especially at Pakistan Secretariat, Supreme Court of Pakistan, Parliament House, as well as employees of private organizations performing their duties came out of the buildings in panic, reciting verses from the Holy Quran. It was observed that a majority of government officials did not return to their offices due to fear after the quake.
Motorists stopped at roads soon after they felt the quake jolt due to which traffic jam was observed on different roads. Employees of different organizations and shopkeepers were seen sitting at greenbelt for a long, fearing aftershocks. The devastated earthquake shattered window pane of commercial and residential buildings, developed cracks in some high rise buildings at Blue Area and sector E-11 & F-11. The metro bus track also reported developed cracks. The glasses of main entrance of Supreme Court building were also damaged.
A senior official of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) said that following earthquake, the Emergency and Disaster Management Directorate (E&DM) of CDA sent its team in various parts of the city and conducted survey of high rise buildings as well as Katchi Abadies. "No major cracks or damage were found in the high rise buildings", he said. He said that the authority issued notices to owners of high rise building for upgradation of their buildings. The E&DM of CDA is fully equipped and ready to deal with any emergency situation in the city, he said.