South Asia quake
What has gone wrong with the nature? Why the people of Asian countries from Turkey to Japan down to Indonesia are being tested, punished and filled with miseries very frequently? Is it due to ignored humanity, or distressed humanity or deprived humanity by the anthropogenic system of the society? If the human beings are part of the natural system then for obvious reasons and logic it is to be believed that the acts, the views, and the attitudes of the human beings should have impact on the nature. We never know. But time has evolved to think and act to save and serve mankind. Nature does not care for human muscle or thumb. The ignorance and non-caring attitude about the nature's behaviour and the processes seem to be the major disastrous effects for the Asian countries and people.
We all knew that Java trench along the coast of Sumatra is one of the most active trenches in the world but we failed to know that along the trench there could be violent up-thrust crustal movement that could create devastating earthquake and for obvious reason of its location in the ocean bed, a tsunami. In turn, we have failed to educate people of the region how to cope with and be prepared for such disastrous event if occurred. This is ignorance or we did not simply care to learn or study natural processes or the crustal movement's behaviour along such active earth segment.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Similarly, we all knew that Hazra-Kashmir Crushed Zone of Pakistan is seismically very active where MMT (main mantle thrust) and MBT (main boundary thrust) have converged in such a fashion that has created one of the most complex and major crushed and sheared zones of the entire Himalayan belt. This zone is markedly characterised by the most active fault known as Jhelam fault. This crushed zone is extended from Udhampur in the southeast to Kalam in the northwest across Muzaffarabad and Balakot. The loss of lives and property assessment seem to be confined around Muzaffarabad-Balakot region.
Until today a total number of 83 aftershocks of which 36 aftershocks of magnitudes between 5.3 and 6.2 all are located mostly in the Balakot-Mirabat transect and we are unknown as to what happened there. The seismicity record for 1973-1976 of this region unveiled major earthquake risk vulnerability and the areas of potential seismic gap for impending major earthquake. The record also shows that the devastating 1905 Kangra earthquake killing more than 19,000 people is located on this zone. The 1974 Pattan earthquake killing more than 5,000 people is also located on this crushed zone. A 5.2 magnitude earthquake that occurred near Rawalpindi in 1977 causing severe damage and some loss of lives was also located near South Asia Quake zone.
Record shows that the rate of plate movement in this region was determined as 3.7 cm per year back in 1979, that is an enormous rate for strain build-up and precipitation in a major earthquake. With all these known facts we have completely failed to aware people how much potentially dangerous region they are living in, and failed to educate and prepare them how to face such catastrophic natural event. We have totally failed to have for the people a proper pre-disaster physical planning, and post-disaster relief and rescue management and action.
The pertinent question: are the people of Hazra-Kashmir region free and safe from any other near future major earthquake? No, they are not! They must be cautious very seriously because of the fact that a major seismic gap has been observed in the crescent shaped region mostly covering an area from Abbotabad, Murree, Rawalpindi upto Srinagar and Udhampur, Kashmir. It is further even alarming because not a single aftershock out of 83, of October 8, 2005 earthquake has occurred in this crescent shaped zone. Death is inevitable but painful death is not desirable. Should we not innovate mechanism to combat such natural disasters for the benefit of the humanity?