Pakistan

Flashback 2005 quake: Panic, fear grip twin cities’ residents

No major damage or casualties were reported in Islamabad-Rawalpindi and adjoining areas

Photo: Mudassar Raja/photo Agha Mehroz/our Correspondents October 26, 2015

People gather around a car which was hit by a wall that fell during the earthquake on Alam Khan Road in Rawalpindi; people stand outside buildings in Blue Area, Islamabad, after the jolts. PHOTOS: AGHA MEHROZ, MUDASSAR RAJA/EXPRESS

TAXILA/ ISLAMABAD/ JHELUM/ HASSANABDAL/ KAMRA:

The earthquake of 7.5 magnitudes on Monday left residents of the twin cities and adjoining areas in a state of panic and fear. For many, it was a grim reminder of the October 2005 quake that devastated Azad Kashmir, different parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and left thousands dead.

People rushed out of offices and homes, while minor injuries were reported in the twin cities as well as Attock, Kamra, Hassanabdal and Jhelum, among others.

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The earthquake lasted for about a minute.

Streetlights, electricity poles, and elevated metro bus track were seen shaking like a pendulum in mobile phone videos captured by the residents of the twin cities that went viral on the social media.

“It was horrifying as I was inside my office and rushed to the exit,” said Kashif Khan, a cashier at a local bank in Islamabad’s busiest Aabpara market. No major damage was reported in the capital. The Executive Plaza in E-11 developed cracks in its basement. Similarly, cracks also appeared in several flats of the Pak Tower in F-10.

‘I felt like this was the end’

Parliamentarians including Senate Chairperson Raza Rabbani and staffers present at the moment inside the Parliament House also vacated the building immediately.

Senator Humayun Khan Mandokhel told The Express Tribune that the building he was living in F-11 — the Abu Dhabi Tower -- also developed cracks. “Not only my flat but corridors and flats of my neighbours have also developed cracks, which is a serious concern,” he added.

Adnan Abbasi, who works at a local hotel in G-6, commented that when he went outside the hotel, people were already standing on the roads and the streets. “Many were too scared to go back as it reminded us of the earthquake in 2005,” he said.

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Several labourers had to quickly climb down from the underconstruction interchange at Peshawar Mor following the tremors. A number of people panicked as they failed to connect to their loved ones through mobile phones due to communication failure.

Rawalpindi

Roofs of houses reportedly collapsed at College Road and Kashmiri Bazaar in Rawalpindi where five persons were injured.

No death or major injuries were reported in the city. District courts in Rawalpindi were deserted right after the tremors.

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Adnan Rashid, a shopkeeper in G-9 Markaz, said that right after he parked his car outside his office he received frantic calls from his relatives and family members about his well-being and whereabouts. Samina Agha, a housewife said that she had never had experienced such tremors in her life.

A man was admitted to Pakistan Ordnance Factory Hospital Wah Cantt after he jumped out of second floor of a building to escape earthquake. Meanwhile, a 10-year-old boy who fell off from the roof of his house was also rushed to a hospital.

In Hassanabdal, several buildings and walls also collapsed. In Mohalla Khawaja Nagar, leg of a 19-year-old man was broken when a wall collapsed. Moreover, Mussarrat Bibi in a nearby village received injuries when wall of her house collapsed.

One person was injured in Hazro when roof of a house caved in.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 27^th, 2015.