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2nd LD Writethru:37 injured as 6.9 magnitude earthquake hits Pakistan

Xinhua, December 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

At least 37 people were injured when an earthquake measuring 6.9 at the Richter Scale jolted Pakistani capital Islamabad and parts of east Punjab and northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces in the wee hours of Saturday morning, local media and officials said.

Urdu TV channel Geo said that the capital city Peshawar of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was the worst-hit area from where the all 37 casualties were reported.

The hospital authorities said that most of people got injuries in the head and limbs after being hit by the bricks of the collapsed houses.

The provincial authorities have imposed a state of emergency in all the three major hospitals in Peshawar and also in neighboring Nowshera district to facilitate the inured people.

The tumbler also caused land sliding at Karakoram Highway in north Gilgit Baltistan area, blocking it from various places.

Ghulam Rasool, the Director General of Pakistan met office said that the quake's focal depth was determined at a focal depth of 197 km in the Hindukush mountain ranges along Afghanistan-Tajikistan border.

He said that the earthquake's duration was 59 seconds in parts of the country, adding that several mild to moderate aftershocks ay hit the country in the next few hours.

Meanwhile the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said that the earthquake's magnitude was 6.2 and its focal depth was 203 km in Ashkasham area of Afghanistan.

Commenting on the difference of the magnitudes, the DG said that the USGS monitor the earthquake situation from mainland America as they do not have any station in Pakistan.

He said that Pakistan lies on the earthquake fault line due to which the local met office keep a close check on the seismic activity and has its bases in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province which enable them to give a more accurate report about the earthquake as compared to the USGS.

The disaster management authority of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province said that they are contacting their sub-offices in various

districts to check possible damages caused by the quake.

The National Disaster Management Authority's spokesperson said that they are checking with the disaster management authorities of all the provinces to make an estimate of losses and damages. Enditem