Earthquake - M7.7 - 66km NNE of Awaran, Pakistan

[Bosonic]

Source: USGS

Event Time

2013-09-24 11:29:48 UTC
2013-09-24 16:29:48 UTC+05:00 at epicenter
2013-09-24 12:29:48 UTC+01:00 system time

Location

27.000°N 65.514°E depth=20.0km (12.4mi)

Nearby Cities

66km (41mi) NNE of Awaran, Pakistan
116km (72mi) NW of Bela, Pakistan
172km (107mi) NW of Uthal, Pakistan
175km (109mi) S of Kharan, Pakistan
791km (492mi) ENE of Muscat, Oman

Read more: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000jyiv#summary

[theHandpuppet]

1. Terrible news

Very few dwellings are constructed that can withstand that kind of quake and in Pakistan the devastation will be especially severe.

[theHandpuppet]

2. Another link

http://www.iris.edu/seismon/

[Sunlei]

3. wow, that is a huge earthquake!

[AngryAmish]

4. Isn't that a desert?

I hope so, that is a huge quake.

[theHandpuppet]

5. Here's a map

It's interactive so you'll have to manipulate it to see the nearby villages. If you have trouble with the link, just google the coordinates of the quake.

[link:https://maps.google.com/maps?q=27.02++65.55&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x3ec998fe724eb677:0x350596d0706b1d5,27.02++65.55&gl=us&ei=eZ5BUqiZJ7ix4AOj7oDIDg&ved=0CCkQ8gEwAA|

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. Relatively lightly populated; 6 dead and a dozen wounded reported so far

The Awaran District has about 200,000 people in 20,000 sq. km - like a tenth of the Nebraska population in a tenth of its area.

The director for Balochistan Disaster Management, Latif Kakar, has confirmed six people dead and a dozen others wounded.

Nearly all of the casualties were from Labach, on the northern outskirts of Awaran town. There are reports of some people trapped under the rubble of collapsed houses.

Officials say the Awaran area is expected to be the most affected but the loss of life and damage to property might be limited because the district is sparsely populated.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24222760

[Bosonic]

7. Death toll in Pakistan quake jumps to 39

ISLAMABAD (AP) -- An official says the death toll has risen to 39 in a major earthquake in southwestern Pakistan.

The chief spokesman for the country's National Disaster Management Authority, Mirza Kamran Zia, says most of the casualties occurred when houses collapsed on people inside.

Tuesday's quake hit a remote area of Baluchistan province. Baluchistan is the country's largest province but also the least populated.

Pakistani officials put the quake size at magnitude 7.7, while the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colo. reported the quake as magnitude 7.8.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_PAKISTAN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[Bosonic]

8. Errrrr...

Island emerges near Gwadar coast after earthquake

QUETTA: In a rare development, an island emerged off Gwadar coast after a powerful earthquake of 7.7 magnitude struck Pakistan on Tuesday.

According to DIG Gwadar Moazzam Jah, the island's altitude is 20 to 40 feet and width around 100 feet.

Talking to Geo news, the DIG said that the island emerged at a distance of 350 feet in the sea from the Gwadar coast.

According to the Meteorological Department, the epicentre of the 7.7 magnitude earthquake was 120Km southwest of Khuzdar in Balochistan province at a depth of 10 kilometres. The US Geological Survey measured the earthquake at 7.8.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-119677-Island-emerges-near-Gwadar-coast-after-quake

[theHandpuppet]

9. WOW!!!

Now that is amazing.

[Turborama]

10. Just saw this reported on AJE, amazing. Pakistan's Tribune has the toll up to 150...

(But it also goes on to say "hundreds" )

Earthquake in Balochistan: Death toll touches 150
By AFP / Web Desk / Mohammad ZafarPublished: September 24, 2013




A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake hit southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, killing hundreds in Balochistan, besides creating a new island off the Gwadar coastline in its wake, Express News reported.

=snip=

On the Gwadar coastline, the quake created a small island about half a mile into the sea near an area called ‘Jhanda’, according to Express News.

The newly appearing island is said to have a mountainous terrain rising up to a hundred feet. A large crowd was seen gathering at the site to see the new island.

The area of the epicentre is sparsely populated, but the USGS issued a red alert for the quake, which left aftershocks of up to 5.9 magnitude, according to the meteorological department.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/608602/earthquake-strikes-pakistan/

[dipsydoodle]

11. Its created a new island 600 metres off the coast !

.

[darkangel218]

12. wtf!

[dipsydoodle]

13. Yep - see here for example :

Quake kills 45 in Pakistan, creates new island in sea.

(Reuters) - A major earthquake hit a remote part of western Pakistan on Tuesday, killing at least 45 people and prompting a new island to rise from the sea just off the country's southern coast.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/24/us-pakistan-quake-idUSBRE98N0HJ20130924

Couldn't provide link earlier as I don't know how to do so using the tablet - back on the PC now.

[paleotn]

14. Hmmmm... I'm still not convinced

...During the 2004 Indian Ocean quake there was seabed movement vertically of around 15 feet, causing a massive tsunami. No word of a tsunami in the Indian Ocean this time, with what looks like far more vertical movement of the crust. Hate to be a party pooper bur that doesn't make sense.

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. Apparently it happens (relatively) often in that area - it's a 'mud volcano'

However, for people who are well aware of the area, it’s not a rare development. “It had emerged some five or six years back and later disappeared,” said Gwadar Deputy Commissioner Tufail Baloch.

The island has surfaced many times in the past. The first instance being 45 years back when it emerged following a mild temblor. But the island submerged and disappeared following high tides and cyclones.

Islands regularly appear and disappear along the 3,000-km Balochistan coastline. The island is about 6 metres high and it covers an area of almost 836 sq meters. Local fishermen say the emergence of such mountains in the sea is not the first incident of its nature. Following the 1945 earthquake and tsunami, a similar mountain had emerged and then disappeared on its own after a year.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Deputy Director of the Geological Survey of Pakistan Anwar Hussain said the emergence of these mud-volcanoes is common following an earthquake which thrusts the mud into a mud-mountain that erodes with high tides and strong wave action.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/609006/rare-phenomenon-island-emerges-off-gwadar-coast/

[dipsydoodle]

16. More than 230 killed in major earthquake in Pakistan

(Reuters) - The death toll from a powerful earthquake in Pakistan climbed to more than 230 on Wednesday after hundreds of mud houses collapsed on their inhabitants throughout the remote and thinly populated area, officials said.

Pakistan's army airlifted hundreds of soldiers to help with the aftermath of the worst earthquake in the South Asian country since 2005 when about 75,000 people were killed in the north of the country.

The Tuesday earthquake, measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale, struck Baluchistan, a huge earthquake-prone province of deserts and rugged mountains, and was felt across South Asia.

It destroyed houses and cut communications with the worst affected district of Awaran, and was so powerful that it caused a small island to emerge from the sea just off the Pakistani coastline in the Arabian Sea.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/09/25/uk-pakistan-quake-idUKBRE98O03E20130925

[Bosonic]

17. The mystery of Pakistan’s new quake island

A small island created in the Arabian Sea by the huge earthquake that hit southwest Pakistan has fascinated locals but experts say it is unlikely to last long.

...

Off the coastline near the port of Gwadar, some 400 kilometers from the epicenter, locals were astonished to see a new piece of land surface from the waves.

“It is not a small thing, but a huge thing which has emerged from under the water,” Gwadar resident Muhammad Rustam told AFP.

“It looked very, very strange to me and also a bit scary because suddenly a huge thing has emerged from the water.”

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/variety/2013/09/25/The-mystery-of-Pakistan-s-new-quake-island.html

[pinto]

18. Kick (nt)

[muriel_volestrangler]

19. Militants target relief helicopter in Pakistan’s quake-hit area as death toll climbs to 355

Two rockets fired by militants in Pakistan’s quake-struck region narrowly missed a government helicopter on Thursday as survivors complained that aid was not reaching far-flung areas and the harrowing death toll climbed to 355.

The attack underscored the dangers authorities and aid workers face in helping victims in southwestern Baluchistan province where a massive, magnitude 7.7 earthquake hit earlier this week.
...
Ethnic Baluch separatists have waged a bloody insurgency to win independence for the vast province. Even among those who haven’t taken up arms, there is strong resentment against the central government that they feel exploits the province’s oil, natural gas and mineral deposits but fails to reinvest any of the money into the desperately poor region.
...
Rasheed, the deputy district commissioner, said more than 100,000 people in the district were affected and 85 percent of the homes damaged.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/survivors-of-pakistan-earthquake-struggle-to-find-shelter-food-during-long-wait-for-help/2013/09/25/813f22e0-2645-11e3-9372-92606241ae9c_story.html

[Bosonic]

20. M6.8 - 96km NNE of Awaran, Pakistan (28th Sep 2013)

Event Time

2013-09-28 07:34:07 UTC
2013-09-28 12:34:07 UTC+05:00 at epicenter
2013-09-28 08:34:07 UTC+01:00 system time

Location

27.263°N 65.587°E depth=14.8km (9.2mi)

Nearby Cities

96km (60mi) NNE of Awaran, Pakistan
135km (84mi) NNW of Bela, Pakistan
147km (91mi) S of Kharan, Pakistan
151km (94mi) SSW of Surab, Pakistan
811km (504mi) ENE of Muscat, Oman

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000k1gb#summary

[dipsydoodle]

21. Pakistani quake area struck again - Just breaking on BBC as I write

Last edited Sat Sep 28, 2013, 05:28 AM - Edit history (1)

Pakistani quake area struck again.



A 6.8-magnitude earthquake has hit south-west Pakistan, in a region where at least 400 people died in a quake earlier this week.

The US Geological Survey said the quake struck approximately 250 kilometres (155 miles) north of the port city of Karachi.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

Local media reported that the quake affected Balochistan and Sindh regions.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24314905

[muriel_volestrangler]

22. Now saying at least another 12 killed, more buried by rubble (nt)