Some technical details of the quake

ISLAMABAD: The country's worst and strongest earthquake emerged somewhere 10 kilometres depth due to the movement of tectonic plates (individual sections that make up the Earth's surface like panels on a football) 95 km north northeast of Islamabad, 115 km east southeast of Mingaora, 165 km north of Jhelum and 125 km west northwest Srinagar.
The United States Geological Survey's Richter Scale measured it at 7.6 degrees while the Japanese Met office gauged it at 7.8 degrees. The epicentre located somewhere in Mansehra district (34.432°N and 73.537°E) brought its first and severest tremors at 8:50:38 in the morning. Experts believe the depth of earthquake's epicentre is key factors in its force and duration. Soon after the earthquake, the inhabitants of the mountainous region reported drawing muddy water from the fresh water wells.

The region's worst earthquake was witnessed during the British colonial rule on May 30, 1935, when the Richter Scale techniques were rudimentary, but it could measure its intensity at 8.1 killing 30,000 plus inhabitants in the city.

Normally, origin or epicentre of earthquakes in Pakistan has been the Hindu Kash mountain ranges and that somewhere inside Afghanistan. The Saturday's earthquake has not only brought death and destruction to the northern Pakistan and entire Jammu and Kashmir state but also raised new scientific question as to whether a new tectonic activity has started in down below the Hazara division, endangering the populous cities of Peshawar to Lahore and putting at risk the civilian and defence industry in the seismological active zone.

Saturday's series of tremors have been the strongest and longest spell in the region's history. After the deadliest earthquake, country faced 16 aftershocks, the last of which recorded close the Iftar time, all originating from the same epicentre except for two coming from the depth of 20.3 km and 16.3 km while intensity varied from 5.2 to 6.3 at the Richter Scale, according to the US Geological Survey.

The News spoke to a variety of experts across the country to find some insight into the widely rumour of the spell of aftershocks continuing for another two days, no one came up with a specific answer. Despite high tech innovations in geology, prediction of an earthquake still remains a distant dream. Some successful studies have been conducted into post-earthquake.

The Earth's crust is made up of 12 individual tectonic plates. Below the sea, they can measure 4km to 9.6km thick and under land this increases to 32km to 70.8km. Below the crust, radiation from the Earth's core heats the semi-molten mantle to temperatures of over 5000°C.
The first practical scale for measuring earthquakes was developed by geologist Charles Richter at the California Institute of Technology in 1930s, and the scale that most scientists use today still bears his name. There are two ways in which scientists quantify the size of earthquakes--magnitude and intensity. Seismograph is another device that records earthquake activity and the measurement systems written to help interpret that data. Remember that the Richter scale is not a physical device, but a mathematical formula.

Although the Geological Survey of Pakistan is there to provide the latest information on such issues, it did not come up to educate the masses in the disaster-like situation. It website under subject "earthquake information" further links up the reader to a one-day seminar on earthquake preparedness but remains blanks about the technical aspects of the worst tremors in the country's history.

The Pakistan Met Department has divided the country into four zones based on expected ground acceleration. The areas surrounding Quetta, along the Makran coast and parts of the NWFP, along the Afghan border fall in Zone 4. The rest of the NWFP lies in Zone 3, with the exception of southern parts of this province, which lie in Zone 2. The remaining parts of the country's coast up to Karachi also lie in Zone 3. The remaining parts of the country lie in Zone 2. The major cities of Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Islamabad both sit in this zone. But they are regularly rattled by strong earthquakes from the north or from neighbouring Afghanistan. The upper western part of Balochistan and regions along the border with India lie in Zone 1. This zone also includes Lahore where there was serious damage caused by the 1905 Kangra earthquake in neighbouring India.

According to various expert studies conducted prior to October 8 earthquake, the most vulnerable parts of Pakistan lie in Balochstan province and around Quetta stretching to the Afghan border and western parts of Balochistan, which include the Makran coast up to the Iranian border. These regions could expect to have a maximum peak ground acceleration (PGA) ranging between 0.24g and 0.4g. Parts of northern Punjab could expect a maximum PGA ranging between 0.24g and 0.32g. Similar values of PGA could be expected in northern sections of the NWFP and around Karachi, in Sindh Province.

Maximum PGA values for the rest of the country do not fall below 0.8g. These values steadily decrease towards the Indian border. The region with the lowest maximum PGA is a region between Khangarh and Fort Abbas, along the international border with India.

According to the Geological Survey of Pakistan, the 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.

The Chaman Fault 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, India. An active subduction zone exists off the Makran coast. The great 1945 earthquake was centred in this region. This zone forms the boundary between the Arabian and the Iranian micro-plate, where the former subducts or dives beneath the latter. Thrust zones run along the Kirthar, Sulaiman and Salt ranges. There are four faults 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 the past many centuries in the deltaic areas.

The destruction of Bhanbhor in the 13th century and damage to Shahbundar in 1896 were caused by this fault. The other one emanates from the Rann of Kutchh.

The third one is the Pubb fault which ends into Arabian sea near Makran coast and the last one is located in the lower Dadu district near Surajani and falls in the vicinity of Karachi. Tsunamis or tidal waves have also affected the coast of Pakistan. The worst case was in 1945 when an earthquake of magnitude 7.9 struck the Makran coast; waves as high as 12 meters were reported.

The most severe earthquake in 100 years

Lahore was rocked yesterday at 9 am by an earthquake of 7.6 on the Richter scale. A teenager was killed and five others sustained minor injuries following the collapse of a roof of a plaza at the New Alamgir Market in the Shah Alam area. The earthquake orginated near Azad Kashmir and thus Muzaffarabad District was affected the most. The death toll this morning is over 2,000 people. Tremors were felt in all parts of Northern Pakistan and in India. An apartment tower (Margalla) in Islamabad collapsed due to the earthquake.

Pak Tea House

By Ayesha Javed Akram

They say Faiz Ahmed Faiz used to sit there. They say there was a time when the tea was made to perfection. They say the biscuits were crisp, the pastries fresh. Today though, the Pak Tea House is but a relic.Though the Lahore Writer’s Club continues to hold meetings there, and just yesterday they conducted a musical evening at the Tea House, but it is no longer the literary hub of legend. In an attempt to find out who the average customer of the Pak Tea House is nowadays, I started dropping in regularly for tea, served in cups without saucers. Twice, I encountered cups without handles, and once, I was served in a cup with so many cracks I wondered why the tea wasn’t dripping all over the table. “Is this the crockery Faiz sahib was served in?” I asked the waiter. He shook his head, scowled, and walked away. But if you don’t mind feebly rotating fans, sticky tables and the constant drone of passing traffic, the Pak Tea House could become your favourite haunt for the following reasons:Even when you order a single cup of tea, the teapot placed on your table always contains enough for two servings. Tea is made from milk, and not milk powder. If a fly falls into your tea, thanks to the dimly lit interior, you would never know. No one dresses up for tea. By simply paying for tea here, you can feel good that you are doing your bit toward promoting literature in Lahore. But in my six visits to the Tea House, I did not encounter any literary activity. The first time I dropped in was in the middle of a hot July afternoon, when the Tea House reeked of sweat, grease and milk that had been cooked for too long. Understandably enough, there were only three customers. At a corner table sat an elderly man with a salt and pepper beard flowing over his cup. The heat had put him to sleep, and his loud snores remained uninterrupted by the rude glances the other visitors were throwing in his direction. At a table across from him sat a student who was in his final year at King Edward Medical College, and had come to drown the sorrow of failing his oral exam in cups of sugary tea. Near the door sat a confused looking foreigner with an open note-pad in his lap. He was a tourist, making his way through India and Pakistan, and had been told that the Tea House was of historical importance. So far, he hadn’t been able to figure out how. “So, did your founder drink tea here?” I overheard him ask one of the waiters.On my second visit, I encountered two bicycle mechanics who worked opposite the Tea House and had dropped in for a mid-morning break. They had heard that this place was once habituated by famous people, but had never seen any in here. “My father told me that he once saw Allama Iqbal have tea here,” said one of the mechanics.My third visit brought me in touch with a couple of NCA students who claimed the place never ceased to inspire them. “I adore the ambience,” said a young boy whose ponytail flowed down to his shoulders. “This Tea House has character,” said the other. The next time, I noticed a slight change. Tables had been pulled up to the centre and joined together to seat about 20 men. They sat in a circle, dressed similarly in ill-fitting shalwar kurtas and grimy overalls, gesturing wildly as they spoke. Cups of unfinished tea sat in front of them. The heated discussion seemed to be gaining momentum, and I inched forward to try and overhear the arguments. But instead of Ghalib’s couplets, the ruckus was over the wages they worked for at a motor workshop. Once the discussion became a series of abuses, I realised it was time to leave. On my fifth visit, I encountered the sleepy old man again. I was told he was a regular of sorts, though no one knew his name and referred to him as Baba Ji. On my sixth visit, I couldn’t squeeze into the Tea House for a musical evening was in full swing, and an enraptured audience had occupied all the available chairs. So much for literature.

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Badshahi Mosque

Badshahi Mosque
Originally uploaded by Digerati_.

As viewed from Cuckoo's Cafe

The Carnival of the Year in Lahore: Basant

Ladies reach for the sky on Basant

Bo Kata

Proud buyers of two camels towing them home for the Eid sacrifice

It's Eid

Eid is an event that everyone is excited about till it finally arrives. On Eid the males get up and prepare for the mass prayer. Usually new and traditional clothes are worn. The prayer is held in several mosques and open spaces at different times. The grandest congregation is in the historic Badshahi Mosque. Since I live in the Cantonment and getting to Badshahi Mosque means having to go through congested street and heavy traffic, I walk down to the nearby PAF Stadium for an open air affair. There are still a couple of acquaintances from my Air Force days who pray there and we get to see each other.

The prayer is the shortest of all prayers in Islam but the sermon and post prayer recital elongate the event to about just under an hour. The maulana finds himseld on top of the world while addressing the largest congregation of the year. He yells, shouts and screams thinking that his voice must reach the last man. The fact that he is being helped by an electronic gadget (amplifier and speakers) has still not dawned upon him. I guess he thinks shouting is proportionate to the amount of power he believes he has that morning. After the prayer everyone greetings friends and fellows and returns home.

The Eid breakfast is singular in content. You get only one course; vermicelli with boiling milk and sugar to taste. Some richen it with a little cream and an ilaichi or two for enhancing the flavour. This is usually followed by a gift giving activity. Most people prefer to give cash and those receiving are only too happy to receive the same. On this Eid, the men get busy again or begin the wait for the butcher who cuts the sacrificed animal into desired portions. The meat is to be divided into three parts; one for the poor, one for friends and relatives and one for oneself. The day is taken up in distributing and receiving meat.

By afternoon, everyone is tired and many older folks surrender to an afternoon nap.

Eid become quite a boring day as it progresses. There is little community activity. Its just another holiday to be whiled away. The children have their fun with the money that they get and the new clothes they wear. Some families take to visiting the whole clan. This is a very tiresome activity the chief gain of which is the large number of calories one collects in the process. Dinners are not popular on Eid. Most people enjoy quiet dinners at home.

This time it rained on Eid; luckily the rain started after the prayer. We are quite unprepared for the operating in rainy conditions. Eid was thus even more static than what it usually is. Thank Allah it does not snow here - people might not even go for the morning prayer in such a case. But all said and done, we await the next Eid.