2011 Pakistan earthquake
Encyclopedia
The 2011 Pakistan earthquake was a magnitude Mw
7.2 earthquake that had its epicenter
45 kilometers west of Dalbandin
in Balochistan
. The epicenter is located in a sparsely populated area. The United States Geological Survey
reported the earthquake took place on January 18, 2011 at 20:23:17 UTC (on January 19 at 01:23 AM local time) at 28.838°N, 63.974°E. The depth of the earthquake was reported to be 84 kilometres (52.2 mi).
Tremors after the earthquake reached neighboring countries including Bahrain
, UAE, Oman
, Iran
, Afghanistan
, and India
a few moments after the quake. The earthquake was felt with Mercali intensity MM IV in Islamabad
, MM IV Karachi
, MM IV in Muscat
, MM IV in Delhi
, MM III in Kabul
, MM III in Dubai
, and MM III Abu Dhabi
. About 200 mud houses, including some government offices, were reported damaged in Dalbandin area in Pakistan. Two women died of heart attacks in Quetta
after the earthquake, about 330 km northeast of the epicenter, where the intensity was MM IV.
The tectonic environment of this region is dominated by the motions of the Arabian Plate
, the Indian Plate, and the Eurasian Plate
. This earthquake occurred as a result of normal faulting within the lithosphere of the subducted Arabian Plate.
Moment magnitude scale
The moment magnitude scale is used by seismologists to measure the size of earthquakes in terms of the energy released. The magnitude is based on the seismic moment of the earthquake, which is equal to the rigidity of the Earth multiplied by the average amount of slip on the fault and the size of...
7.2 earthquake that had its epicenter
Epicenter
The epicenter or epicentre is the point on the Earth's surface that is directly above the hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or underground explosion originates...
45 kilometers west of Dalbandin
Dalbandin
Dalbandin is a town and Union council of Balochistan, Pakistan. Dalbandin is famous for fruit orchards.On 19th January, 2011, it was struck by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake. At that time it was a sparsely populated area with a population of 15,000. It is located at 28°52'60N 64°25'0E at an altitude...
in Balochistan
Balochistan (Pakistan)
Balochistan is one of the four provinces or federating units of Pakistan. With an area of 134,051 mi2 or , it is the largest province of Pakistan, constituting approximately 44% of the total land mass of Pakistan. According to the 1998 population census, Balochistan had a population of...
. The epicenter is located in a sparsely populated area. The United States Geological Survey
United States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...
reported the earthquake took place on January 18, 2011 at 20:23:17 UTC (on January 19 at 01:23 AM local time) at 28.838°N, 63.974°E. The depth of the earthquake was reported to be 84 kilometres (52.2 mi).
Tremors after the earthquake reached neighboring countries including Bahrain
Bahrain
' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
, UAE, Oman
Oman
Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
a few moments after the quake. The earthquake was felt with Mercali intensity MM IV in Islamabad
Islamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
, MM IV Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
, MM IV in Muscat
Muscat, Oman
Muscat is the capital of Oman. It is also the seat of government and largest city in the Governorate of Muscat. As of 2008, the population of the Muscat metropolitan area was 1,090,797. The metropolitan area spans approximately and includes six provinces called wilayats...
, MM IV in Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, MM III in Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
, MM III in Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
, and MM III Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi , literally Father of Gazelle, is the capital and the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates in terms of population and the largest of the seven member emirates of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western...
. About 200 mud houses, including some government offices, were reported damaged in Dalbandin area in Pakistan. Two women died of heart attacks in Quetta
Quetta
is the largest city and the provincial capital of the Balochistan Province of Pakistan. Known as the "Fruit Garden of Pakistan" due to the diversity of its plant and animal wildlife, Quetta is home to the Hazarganji Chiltan National Park, which contains some of the rarest species of wildlife in the...
after the earthquake, about 330 km northeast of the epicenter, where the intensity was MM IV.
The tectonic environment of this region is dominated by the motions of the Arabian Plate
Arabian Plate
The Arabian Plate is one of three tectonic plates which have been moving northward over millions of years and colliding with the Eurasian Plate...
, the Indian Plate, and the Eurasian Plate
Eurasian Plate
The Eurasian Plate is a tectonic plate which includes most of the continent of Eurasia , with the notable exceptions of the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian subcontinent, and the area east of the Chersky Range in East Siberia...
. This earthquake occurred as a result of normal faulting within the lithosphere of the subducted Arabian Plate.
See also
- 1935 Balochistan earthquake1935 Balochistan earthquakeThe 1935 Balochistan Earthquake occurred on May 31, 1935 at 3:02am at Quetta, Balochistan, British India . The earthquake had a magnitude of 7.7 Mw and anywhere between 30,000 and 60,000 people died from the impact. This ranks as one of the deadliest earthquakes that hit South Asia...
- 1945 Balochistan earthquake1945 Balochistan earthquakeThe 1945 Balochistan Earthquake was an earthquake which occurred in British India at 05:26 PST on 28 November 1945 It was recorded with a magnitude of 8.1 on the Richter Scale....
- 2005 Kashmir earthquake2005 Kashmir earthquakeThe 2005 Kashmir earthquake was a major earthquake centered in Pakistan-administered Kashmir known as Azad Kashmir, near the city of Muzaffarabad, affecting Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It occurred at 08:52:37 Pakistan Standard Time on 8 October 2005...
- 2008 Pakistan earthquake2008 Pakistan earthquakeThe 2008 Pakistan earthquake was a magnitude Mw 6.4 earthquake that hit the Pakistani province of Balochistan on October 29, 2008. The US Geological Survey reported that the quake occurred north of Quetta and southeast of the Afghanistan city of Kandahar at 04:09 local time at a depth of , at...
- Chaman FaultChaman FaultThe Chaman Fault is a major, active geological fault in Pakistan and Afghanistan that runs for over 850 km. Tectonically, it is actually a system of related geologic faults that separates the Eurasian Plate from the Indo-Australian Plate. It is a terrestrial, primarily transform, left-lateral...