|
A moderate
earthquake (M5.0-5.9 termed as "moderate") occurred
in
the
Kashmir Himalayas region on 20 February 2009
at 08:48 AM local time in
Pakistan and 09:18 AM local time in India.
It had a magnitude of Mw=5.4 and was widely felt in northern
Pakistan and parts of north India causing several injuries as well
as some damage. This is the strongest
earthquake in this immediate region since March 2006.
The earthquake was centred
5.2 kms NE of Sharian, Kashmir Himalayas region,
13.4 kms NNW of Chakoti, Kashmir Himalayas region,
19.5 kms S of Tangdhar (Jammu & Kashmir), India,
27 kms N of Bagh, Kashmir Himalayas region,
25.8 kms WNW of Uri (Jammu & Kashmir), India,
35 kms ESE of Muzaffarabad, Kashmir Himalayas region,
48 kms W of Baramulla (Jammu & Kashmir), India,
54 kms NE of Murree (Punjab), Pakistan,
90 kms WNW of Srinagar (Jammu & Kashmir), India,
94 kms NNE of Islamabad (NCT), Pakistan,
195 kms NNW of Jammu (Jammu & Kashmir), India,
214 kms E of Peshawar (N.W.F.P.), Pakistan,
300 kms N of Lahore (Punjab), Pakistan,
477 kms NW of Chandigarh (U.T.), India.
If you felt this earthquake, please take the time to fill out a felt report questionnaire.
At least 44 persons were injured as a result of this earthquake and
sketchy reports
say at least two students were killed when a school collapsed near
Muzaffarabad but confirmation on this incident is awaited. At
least three students were injured when the wall of their school
collapsed at Ghaipura village in the Leepa Valley. Another person
was hurt in a wall collapse at Hoola village in the same valley.
In the Neelum Valley, one person was injured at Katha Chogalli and
another at Jura. Two injuries were also reported from Panjkot as a
result of a house collapse
and another person was hurt at Balgran. A wall collapsed at Hattian
resulting in at least one injury. Twenty school students were
injured when the boundary walls of schools at Bisian, Lahore Kass
and Yousafi Birot collapsed in the Abbottabad area; ten injuries
occurred at Lahore Kass alone. In Jammu & Kashmir, one person
was injured at Vamul in Srinagar after jumping from the first
floor of a shopping complex. Three people were injured at Karnah
in Kupwara district when three houses sustained some damage during
the quake. Elsewhere in Kupwara, at least ten people were hurt in
a stampede.
A road between Muzaffarabad and the Neelam
Valley was blocked by a landslide. Roads from Mansehra leading to
the Naran, Kaghan and Konsh valleys were also blocked by
landslides.
Several kutchha houses
collapsed and a newly built school was damaged in the Muzaffarabad
area. Wall
collapses occurred at Athkumam, Dawarian, Ghaipura, Hoolam, Jura
and Panjkot, all near Muzaffarabad. Between 40-50 houses collapsed
at Panjkot. The roof of the Government
Girl's School at Chiniari reportedly caved in. In Jammu & Kashmir,
two double-storied buildings were "razed" at Warsun on Kupwara
district. A few buildings, including the OPD, were damaged at
Karnah in Kupwara district. Elsewhere in Kupwara district, damage
was reported from Awathkul, Chowkibal, Malial and Marsar. Two old
and abandoned buildings were damaged in the old part of Srinagar
while in Baramulla, buildings cracked in the earthquake in 2005
sustained further damage.
Strong tremors were felt in the Kashmir Himalayas including at
Balakot, Chakoti, Muzaffarabad and in the Neelum Valley,
This earthquake has been
felt strongly in parts of northern Pakistan including Chitral,
Deena, Gujjar Khan, Gujrat, Islamabad, Jhelum, Lahore, Mansehra, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Sialkot
and Sohawa. In India, strong tremors were felt in many parts of
the state of Jammu & Kashmir, particularly in the districts of
Baramulla, Kupwara, Poonch and Rajauri. Panic was rife in the
towns of Baramulla, Kupwara and Uri immediately after the
earthquake. In Srinagar, where the quake lasted close to
10-seconds, many people ran outdoors and remained on the streets
for a while. Tremors
were also felt at Jammu as well as in the districts of Doda,
Ramban, Riasi and Udhampur in Jammu & Kashmir, India. Tremors from
this earthquake were felt as far as Chandigarh.
|
