 Download
Cat Report
(71kb pdf)
Cover Page
Hurricane Katrina - Florida
Hurricane Rita - US, Cuba
Earthquake - Pakistan
Hurricane Wilma - US, Mexio, Cuba
Landslide - Philippines
Hurricane Stan - Mexico
Explosion & fire - UK
Other events
|
Catastrophe Report 8
August 8th to February 23rd 2006 |
Earthquake - Pakistan, India
| Territory: |
|
Pakistan, India |
| Region: |
|
Kashmir (northern Pakistan and NW
India) |
| Date: |
|
8 October 2005 |
| Event: |
|
Earthquake |
| Impact: |
|
The 2005 Kashmir earthquake has proved to be
one of the most destructive and lethal in modern times, with
current estimates pointing to a death toll of 87,000 –
the vast majority in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Pakistan’s
North West Frontier Province - and more than 106,000 injured.
The totals include 1,350 killed and 6,000 injured in the Indian-administered
western and southern parts of the Kashmir Valley. More than
3.3 million people have been left homeless, with over 4 million
people affected in total. The death toll is expected to rise
throughout the long winter as a result of severe cold and disease.
Total economic losses are estimated at more than US$5 billion.
Structural damage to buildings was extremely severe with countless
buildings experiencing complete failure. The heaviest damage
occurred in the Muzaffarabad region, where entire communities
were obliterated by a combination of building collapse and extensive
landsliding. Eighty percent of the town of Uri (India) was flattened,
while in excess of 35,000 buildings were reported destroyed
in the towns of Anantnag, Baramula, Jammu and Srinagar. Collapsed
buildings were also reported as far afield as Islamabad, Lahore
and Rawalpindi. The maximum intensity of shaking (Modified Mercalli
Scale) was VIII in the vicinity of the epicentre, VI in Islamabad
and Rawalpindi and IV in New Delhi. Assessment of damaged buildings
showed that most were made of un-reinforced masonry and around
60 percent of these had collapsed. In towns like Belakot, very
few properties were left standing. The total number of collapsed
buildings is estimated at several hundred thousand. These include
two high rise buildings in Islamabad, each containing 60 apartments.
More than 1,400 schools were also destroyed, buried or suffered
serious damage, killing many thousands of children. In India,
more than 2,500 homes were reported destroyed. The Karakoram
Highway was cut in several places by landslides and rock falls,
hindering relief efforts. |
| Summary: |
|
A major earthquake, registering 7.6 on the Moment
Magnitude Scale, struck the Pakistan-administered region of
the disputed territory of Kashmir at 08.50 local time on October
8th, 2005, causing massive damage and loss of life. The quake
was shallow, with the focus located at just 26 km beneath the
surface. The epicentre was 19 km NE of the city of Muzaffarabad,
and 100 km NNE of the Pakistan capital, Islamabad. By the end
of October, almost a thousand aftershocks had followed the main
quake, including a number approaching – and one exceeding
– magnitude 6. The earthquake occurred in the region where
the northward moving (at ~ 40mm y) Indian Plate is in collision
with the Eurasian Plate to the north. The end product of this
process is the Himalaya Mountain Belt, together with periodic
large earthquakes that act to release accumulated stresses.
Several earthquake of similar magnitude are expected along the
Himalayan front extending from Pakistan across northern India
and into Bangladesh. The last major earthquake in Pakistan occurred
at Quetta in 1983, when a magnitude 8.1 event killed an estimated
35,000 people. Due to the mountainous nature of the terrain,
the Kashmir earthquake triggered a large number of landslides,
which raised the death toll, cut lifelines and hampered rescue
efforts. |
| Data sources: |
|
Geological Survey of India
http://www.gsi.gov.in/pokeq/pokeq.htm
United States Geological Survey
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/eqinthenews/2005/usdyae/
|
| Additional sources:
|
|
Earthquake Engineering Research Institute
http://www.eeri.org/lfe/clearinghouse/kashmir/observ1.php
ReliefWeb
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/dbc.nsf/doc100?OpenForm
|
| |
|
|
|
|
