ISLAMABAD: At least 38 people were killed and more than 500 injured in a powerful earthquake of magnitude 5.8 on Tuesday, that hit Azad Kashmir and other areas in the eastern Punjab province, officials said on Wednesday.
The earthquake flattened homes and shops and split roads open in an area between the towns of Jhelum in Punjab province and Mirpur, a town on Pakistan’s side of the disputed territory of Kashmir.
“I can confirm that the death toll is now at 38 people, with 500 injured,” Saqib Mumtaz, a spokesperson for Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) told Arab News.
At around 4 p.m. on Tuesday, the quake struck 23km north of Jhelum, at a relatively shallow depth of 10km, the US Geological Survey reported. Shortly afterward, photos and videos on social media showed dozens of destroyed vehicles and buildings, and cracks in roads wide enough to swallow cars.
Approximately 24 hours later, the government of Azad Kashmir announced the rescue operation had ended.
“We have ended the rescue operation, and (are) now focusing on relief efforts,” Mushtaq Minhas, information minister for Azad and Jammu Kashmir, told Arab News.
“Normality is returning to the quake-hit areas, and the panic is subsiding,” Minhas said. “We are reaching (out) to affected families to provide them with blankets, medicines, water and other necessary food items.”
The minister said the relief operation would conclude by Thursday, and the process of rehabilitation would begin. “We will definitely compensate each family for their loss, and we are working to devise a mechanism for it,” he said.
Fearing aftershocks, many people slept outdoors overnight while troops and emergency responders continued rescue operations through the night.
Meanwhile, NDMA Chairman Lt. Gen. Mohammad Afzal, along with Firdous Ashiq Awan, special assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan, visited the quake-hit areas to assess damage and destruction caused to life and property.
Speaking to the media, Afzal said over 400 homes were damaged, and that special teams had been set up to document the destruction.
“Ration bags containing food, tents and blankets are being distributed among the affected families,” he said.
The disaster management chief also said some “friendly countries” had offered aid for the quake-hit areas, but added, “we don’t need it at the moment.”
Afzal said 80 of those injured remain hospitalized in critical medical condition.
The government has put hospitals in the capital Islamabad on high alert to deal with emergencies, and dispatched a team of nine doctors, three paramedics, lifesaving medicines and surgical kits to the quake zone. In two other hospitals in the federal capital, doctors and paramedics are on standby as backups.
“We are here to express our sympathies with the victims and their families … and all of them will be compensated for their loss as per directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan,” Awan said during her visit to the quake-affected areas.
The last major earthquake in Kashmir occurred in October 2005, killing almost 80,000 people and leaving 3.5 million homeless, mainly in Azad Kashmir.
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