All shook up: Woman killed, light tremors felt across Sindh

Tremors also felt in Karachi on Wednesday evening.

SUKKUR: Like the rest of the country, tremors were felt across rural Sindh as well and in Garhi Khairo late Tuesday night.

The tremors were felt at around 1:20 am and several panicked residents of high-rise plazas on Bunder Road, Sukkur ran down and out of their homes. Some residents of the kachcha area near Sukkur Barrage were sleeping on the ground because their houses had collapsed when the water in the barrage was released downstream on January 6 and they said they felt the entire earth heave.

“I felt as if I was sinking into the ground,” said Mai Shamul, who has been living in a tent since her house was destroyed on January 6, when the barrage was shut down for maintenance.

Another resident, Wali Muhammad, said he had felt as if he was in a boat sailing in the sea. “I became scared and ran onto the road but then [just like that] it was all over,” he added.

Muhammad Ahmed, who lives in high-rise plaza, told The Express Tribune that the tremors were of very low intensity but most of them still rushed out of the apartments because they had heard too many rumours of substandard material being used in the construction.

“I was so sleepy I ran into the bathroom instead of going out the main door,” confessed Nazia Shaikh, who also lives in a high-rise residential complex at Racecourse Road. She said she was sleeping and was woken up only when her mother shook her, yelling: “Zalzala! Zalzala aaraha hai! Utho!”

In Garhi Khairo, however, a woman, Halima, was killed when her house collapsed while four others were injured. The houses that collapsed were already damaged in the flood that hit in August last year.

Tremors were also felt in other cities and towns including Rohri, Pannu Aqil, Ghotki, Mirpur Mathelo, Daharki, Ubauro, Jacobabad, Thull, Kashmore, Kandhkot and Shikarpur.

Karachi

The earthquake was of a high intensity (around 7.3 magnitude) but it lasted for less than a minute and no loss of life or property was reported in Karachi. However, panicked residents came out of their houses in several areas. Some houses and structures also developed cracks due to the strong shockwaves.

On Wednesday evening, tremors were felt again by residents.

Additional input from PPI

Published in The Express Tribune, 20^th, 2011.