2008 Ziarat Earthquake
Tectonic summary
Western and northern Pakistan lie across the complex plate boundary where the Indian Plate is colliding with the Eurasian Plate. In this area the convergence is highly oblique, with the relative northward movement of the Indian Plate of 40 mm/yr (1.6 inches/yr) being at a low angle to the plate boundary. The main active faults are dominated by sinistral (left-lateral) strike-slip motion, with the Chaman Fault being the most important structure, accommodating a large proportion of the plate boundary displacement. The shortening component of the convergence is mainly accommodated by the Kirthar and Sulaiman fold and thrust belts. There is a sharp change in orientation of these two thrust belts near Quetta, known as the Quetta Syntaxis, where the north–south trending Kirthar ranges meet the west–east trending Sulaiman ranges. This area is the most seismically active part of this oblique segment of the plate margin, producing major earthquakes such as the 1935 Quetta event, which caused at least an estimated 30,000 deaths.
Earthquake sequence
The earthquake sequence began at 22:33 UTC on October 28, with a magnitude 5.3 foreshock. This was followed just over 30 minutes later at 23:09 by the first of the M 6.4 doublet earthquakes. The second M 6.4 doublet earthquake occurred at 11:32 on October 29. There were five significant aftershocks in the period up to December 12, including three M>5 earthquakes on that day.
The observed focal mechanisms were almost all strike-slip in type, but it remained unclear which faults ruptured during the sequence, with both southwest–northeast trending sinistral (left lateral) and northwest–southeast trending dextral (right lateral) faults being proposed. Investigations using InSAR data supported activity on multiple faults in both of these orientations.
Damage
Most of the casualties were from two villages on the outskirts of Ziarat town. Balochistan chief minister Aslam Raisani ordered declaration of emergency in the hospitals of the affected areas. These areas, situated on steep terrain, were badly damaged by landslides caused by the quake. Hundreds of mud houses were destroyed.
"Rescue work is being carried out by the villagers themselves, but a larger operation is needed here."
Mayor of Ziarat Dilawar Kakar
The tremors were felt in Quetta, Ziarat, Pishin, Qila Abdullah, Mastung, Sibi, Bolan, Kuchlak and Loralai.
Response
Dilawar Khan, mayor of Ziarat District, stated that his office had requested support from the local government. Pakistani military helicopters and troops were dispatched to assess damage and aid victims.
See also
- List of earthquakes in 2008
- List of earthquakes in Pakistan
- 1935 Quetta earthquake
- 2005 Kashmir earthquake
- 2013 Balochistan earthquakes
References
- ^ "At least 100 dead in Pakistan quake: police". Agence France-Presse. 2008-10-29. Archived from the original on 1 November 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
- ^ "PAGER". USGS. October 28, 2008. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
- ^ "Pakistan quake death toll rises to 215". AFP via The Standard. 2008-10-30. Archived from the original on 2011-06-28. Retrieved 2008-10-30.
- ^ "Magnitude 6.4 - PAKISTAN". USGS. October 28, 2008. Archived from the original on 2 November 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-30.
- ^ "Magnitude 6.4 - PAKISTAN". USGS. October 29, 2008. Archived from the original on November 2, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-30.
- ^ "Pakistan Earthquake Kills 150 People Near Quetta (Update1)". Bloomberg L.P. 2008-10-29. Retrieved 2008-10-30.
- ^ "Scores dead after Pakistan quake". BBC. 2008-10-29. Archived from the original on 29 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
- ^ "Pakistan Earthquake Near Afghanistan Border, Number Of Dead Rising". Sky News. 2008-10-09. Retrieved 2008-10-30.
- ^ "Pakistan quake rescuers recover 160 bodies". Reuters. 2008-10-29. Retrieved 2008-10-30.
- ^ Salman Masood (2008-10-29). "Quake in Pakistan Kills at Least 215". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 2, 2011. Retrieved 2008-10-30.
- ^ Sattar Kakar (2008-10-29). "Pakistani quake leaves 135 dead, 15,000 homeless". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2015-03-29. Retrieved 2008-10-30.(subscription required)
- ^ ANSS, "Pakistan 2008 : M 6.4 - Pakistan", Comprehensive Catalog, U.S. Geological Survey, retrieved 16 February 2021
- ^ Pezzo, G.; Boncori, J.P.M.; Atzori, S.; Antonioli, A.; Salvi, S. (2014). "Deformation of the western Indian Plate boundary: insights from differential and multi-aperture InSAR data inversion for the 2008 Baluchistan (Western Pakistan) seismic sequence". Geophysical Journal International. 198 (1): 25–39. doi:10.1093/gji/ggu106.
- ^ Usman, M.; Furuya, M. (2015). "Complex faulting in the Quetta Syntaxis: fault source modeling of the October 28, 2008 earthquake sequence in Baluchistan, Pakistan, based on ALOS/PALSAR InSAR data". Earth, Planets and Space. 67: 142. Bibcode:2015EP&S...67..142U. doi:10.1186/s40623-015-0303-2. hdl:2115/60144.
- ^ Pinel-Puysségur, B.; Grandin, R.; Bollinger, L.; Baudry, C. (2014). "Multifaulting in a tectonic syntaxis revealed by InSAR: The case of the Ziarat earthquake sequence (Pakistan)". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 119 (7): 5838–5854. Bibcode:2014JGRB..119.5838P. doi:10.1002/2013JB010564.
- ^ "135 killed as earthquake hits southwest Pakistan". The Times of India. 2008-10-29. Retrieved 2008-10-29.
- ^ "Police: At least 70 killed in Pakistan quake". CNN. 2008-10-29. Retrieved 2008-10-29.
Further reading
- Yadav, R.B.S.; Gahalaut, V.K.; Chopra, Sumer; Shan, Bin (2012). "Tectonic implications and seismicity triggering during the 2008 Baluchistan, Pakistan earthquake sequence". Journal of Asian Earth Sciences. 45: 167–178. Bibcode:2012JAESc..45..167Y. doi:10.1016/j.jseaes.2011.10.003. ISSN 1367-9120.
External links
- Crisis briefing Pakistan quake 2008 From Reuters Alertnet
- REUTERS, CHRONOLOGY-Major earthquakes in recent years
- BBC, In pictures: Pakistan quake
- BBC, History of deadly earthquakes
- The International Seismological Centre has a bibliography and/or authoritative data for this event.
- ReliefWeb's main page for this event.