Pakistan earthquake leaves 19 dead and 300 injured in Kashmir region
A shallow earthquake near Mirpur has struck north-eastern Pakistan, tearing huge cracks in roads
ake sent people in Lahore and Islamabad running into the streets. With rescue operations expected to continue overnight, residents in the worst-hit areas described their horror as walls collapsed and houses fell.
The epicentre of the 5.2-magnitude quake was near the city of Mirpur, 22 kilometres (14 miles) north of the city of Jhelum along the boundary separating the agricultural heartland of Punjab province and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the US geological agency, USGS, said.
The larger Kashmir region is a disputed and troubled territory with separate Indian and Pakistani regions. Mirpur is in the Pakistani-administered region, which is nominally self-governing.
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On one of the district’s two main roads, AFP reporters could see cracks at least four feet (1.2 metres) deep, some filling with water from a nearby canal. Television images showed cars wedged in to some cracks, while a bus and a truck lay by the side of the road.
In the village of Sahankikri, on the outskirts of Mirpur, residents said almost all the 400 houses were damaged.
“I will never forget the horrible sound,” another resident, Muhammad Ramzan, told AFP. “It looked like the entire village tossed and turned and spun around.”
“We... were sitting having a gossip when suddenly the earthquake shook us all. Fortunately the wall collapsed the other way, burying one of our buffalo,” 23-year-old student Nabeel Hussain said.
Piles of rubble could be seen as darkness fell on the village, with the sound of women wailing in mourning. Others spoke only in whispers, fearful of aftershocks.
“At least 19 people have been killed and more than 300 wounded,” said Sardar Gulfaraz, deputy inspector general of police in Mirpur, in a televised address.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ashmiri-region
