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A
strong earthquake struck the Astore
Valley in the Kashmir Himalayas, on 21
November 2002 at 03:02 AM local time killing 23 people and causing
damage to property. It had a magnitude of
Mw=6.3.
The earthquake
was centred 7.5
kilometres WNW of Rakhlot Peak, Kashmir Himalayas,
11.5 kilometres N of Nanga Parbat peak (Zaskar
Mountains), Kashmir Himalayas,
25.5 kilometres W of Astore (Zaskar Mountains), Kashmir Himalayas,
40.1 kilometres
S of Jaglot (Zaskar Mountains), Kashmir Himalayas,
46.4 kilometres ESE of Chilas (Zaskar Mountains), Kashmir
Himalayas,
69.8 kilometres SSE of Gilgit (Zaskar
Mountains), Kashmir Himalayas,
141 kilometres N of Srinagar (Jammu & Kashmir), India,
228 kilometres NNE of Islamabad (N.C.T.), Pakistan.
23 people were killed and dozens wounded in the Astore Valley.
Much of the damage occurred in the Astore Valley, where 4
villages - Turbling, Mushin, Dashkin and Harchu -
were been badly affected. 10 people were
killed at Turbling (Tarbelling), 2 at Dashkin (Dashkan), 6 at
Mushin and and the remaining at Harchu (Harcho). More than 1,000
houses are thought to have either been damaged or destroyed in the
quake and 15,000 people have been rendered homeless. Hundreds of
heads of cattle are also feared dead in
the Astore valley. Water, power and communication links in the
region have also been disrupted. This
earthquake was felt strongly at Srinagar
in Jammu & Kashmir, India. People were woken up and many
rushed outdoors despite the bitter cold. It was also felt in
Islamabad in northern Pakistan.
The
Karakoram Highway was blocked by landslides at Tatapani as well as
between Gilgit & Hunza and between Gilgit & Chilas. The
Gilgit-Astore, Gilgit-Skardu and Gilgit-Ghizer roads were also
blocked by landslides. A 90-kilometre section of road in the Astore
Valley was closed due to landslides. Cracks have opened up in
mountainsides threatening the area with the danger of further
landslides. A dust cloud caused by landslides and further
aftershocks has reduced visibility to 35 yards hampering rescue and
relief by air. An aftershock of magnitude 4.6 on Friday, 22 November
2002, caused further landslides and injured 5 people. Many damaged
buildings have collapsed in the aftershocks. |
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References
01)
International Seismological Centre (ISC),
Berkshire.
02)
National
Earthquake Information Centre (NEIC), Golden, USA.
03)
Harvard Centroid Moment Tensor Solution (HRV), Harvard, USA.
04)
Macroseismic information has been compiled by
the ASC from reports by local media and local NGO personnel.
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