earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

struck

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region o ...

near the city of Harnai on 7 October 2021. The moment magnitude 5.9 quake struck in the early morning at 03:01 local time, killing at least 42 people and injuring 300 others. The earthquake occurred just one day before the anniversary of the

2005 Kashmir earthquake An earthquake occurred at on 8 October 2005 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, a territory under Pakistan. Its epicenter was 19 km northeast of the city of Muzaffarabad, and 90 km north north-east of Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan, ...

Tectonic setting

Pakistan is directly influenced by the ongoing oblique

convergence Convergence may refer to: Arts and media Literature *''Convergence'' (book series), edited by Ruth Nanda Anshen *Convergence (comics), "Convergence" (comics), two separate story lines published by DC Comics: **A four-part crossover storyline that ...

between the

Indian plate The Indian plate (or India plate) is or was a minor tectonic plate straddling the equator in the Eastern Hemisphere. Originally a part of the ancient continent of Gondwana, the Indian plate broke away from the other fragments of Gondwana an ...

and Eurasian plate. Along the northern margin of the India-Eurasia convergent boundary is the

Main Himalayan Thrust The Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT) is a décollement under the Himalaya Range. This thrust fault follows a northwest-southeast strike, reminiscent of an arc, and gently dips about 10 degrees towards the north, beneath the region. It is the large ...

which accommodates north–south

continental collision In geology, continental collision is a phenomenon of plate tectonics that occurs at Convergent boundary, convergent boundaries. Continental collision is a variation on the fundamental process of subduction, whereby the subduction zone is destroy ...

. Thrust faulting in the

Hindu Kush The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central Asia, Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and eastern Afghanistan into northwestern Pakistan and far southeastern Tajikistan. The range forms the wester ...

and

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 pea ...

region is the direct result of the plate interaction. In the Balochistan region, the convergence is highly oblique, involving the large Chaman Fault; a left-lateral

strike-slip In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...

structure. While a large portion of the boundary is accommodated by strike-slip faulting, the region also hosts the Sulaiman

fold and thrust belt A fold and thrust belt is a series of mountainous foothills adjacent to an orogenic belt, which forms due to contractional tectonics. Fold and thrust belts commonly form in the forelands adjacent to major orogens as deformation propagates outwards ...

. Major thrusting and folding have occurred within the ~10-km-thick sedimentary rocks which sits atop the India-Eurasia plate boundary; a near-horizontal, north-dipping

décollement Décollement () is a gliding plane between two rock masses, also known as a basal detachment fault. Décollements are a Deformation (geology), deformational structure, resulting in independent styles of deformation in the rocks above and below t ...

. The

occurred near the vicinity of the

. The more recent and larger magnitude 7.7 quake in 2013 in Balochistan was the result of oblique-slip faulting along this highly oblique boundary. That earthquake killed at least 800 and caused major damage in the province. Closer to the region was a 7.1 earthquake in 1997 which struck southeast, killing at least 60 people. That earthquake also had a thrust mechanism but occurred on a blind thrust fault.

Earthquake

According to the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...

, the earthquake occurred due to a shallow

thrust fault A thrust fault is a break in the Earth's crust, across which older rocks are pushed above younger rocks. Thrust geometry and nomenclature Reverse faults A thrust fault is a type of reverse fault that has a dip of 45 degrees or less. I ...

rupturing—the fault is part of the

under the

Sulaiman Mountains The Sulaiman Mountains, also known as Kōh-e Sulaymān, Kasē Ghrūna Da Suleiman Ghruna (Pashto: د كسې غرونه ، د سلیمان غرونه; "Mountains of Qaes/Kasi and Solomon") ( Balochi:; "Mountains of Solomon") are a north–south ex ...

and Central Brāhui Range. Rupture occurred on a fault either dipping shallowly to the north, or a fault dipping steeply to the south. It was followed by two magnitude 4.6 and 4.5 aftershocks. It was the largest earthquake in this region of Pakistan since a major tremor in 2013 which occurred nearby. The GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences placed the earthquake magnitude at 5.8 at 10 km depth with a moment tensor solution indicating thrust faulting.

Impact

Striking early in the morning at just after 03:00 local time, the earthquake collapsed many homes where residents were asleep. According to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) (PDMA), severe damage was reported in the

Harnai District Harnai (, ) is a district in the northeastern part of the Balochistan province of Pakistan. Harnai is the principal town of this district and serves as its administrative headquarters. Until 2007, Harnai had been a tehsil of Sibi District, in ...

and Shahrag area, where 10,000 mud homes were destroyed. Damage was also reported in the cities of

Sibi Sibi (; ;) is a city situated in the Balochistan (Pakistan), Balochistan Subdivisions of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. The city serves as the administrative headquarters of the Sibi District, district and Sibi Tehsil, tehsil of the same name ...

and

Quetta Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...

. Provincial Minister Mir Ziaullah Langau said landslides have blocked roads leading to the affected region, disrupting rescue and recovery efforts. The majority of homes in the affected region were constructed of

mud Mud (, or Middle Dutch) is loam, silt or clay mixed with water. Mud is usually formed after rainfall or near water sources. Ancient mud deposits hardened over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone (generally cal ...

and

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

, making them vulnerable to collapse or severe damage from earthquakes. The Deputy Commissioner at Government of Balochistan, Suhail Anwar Hashmi said that most of the fatalities resulted from roof and wall collapses. According to geologist Sotiris Valkaniotis, the quake triggered at least 116

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...

s, based on inferring satellite imagery from

Sentinel-2 Sentinel-2 is an Earth observation mission from the Copernicus Programme that acquires optical imagery at high spatial resolution (10 m to 60 m) over land and coastal waters. The mission's Sentinel-2A and Sentinel-2B satellites were joined in or ...

Casualties

At least 42 people died, mostly women and children. An unspecified number of residents were buried under the rubble of collapsed buildings and rescued by survivors. About 300 people were injured, with many hospitals in

overwhelmed by the influx of patients. Ten injured individuals, mostly men and elders were airlifted to

. On the afternoon the same day of the disaster, funerals were held for those who had died. A district hospital in Harnai received 15 dead bodies and many severely injured children. Many of the patients were treated outside the hospital building due to overcapacity. Four deaths were

coal miners People have worked as coal miners for centuries, but they became increasingly important during the Industrial Revolution when coal was burnt on a large scale to fuel stationary and locomotive engines and heat buildings. Owing to coal's strategic ...

working when the mine collapsed. In another instance, a mother and her two children were killed in their sleep when their home collapsed. Another girl, aged eight, was found lifeless under the wreckage. Six children were among the dead, including a one-year-old infant. Dozens of

in Balochistan are also reportedly missing, presumably trapped. According to the Deputy Commissioner of Harnai, 15 miners are unaccounted for outside the city. Rescue workers were sent to search for the missing. By 9 October, 33 injured people were getting treatment for their injuries at the Sandeman Provincial Hospital in

. Some victims were taken to the trauma center for their severe injuries. On 10 October, an

aftershock In seismology, an aftershock is a smaller earthquake that follows a larger earthquake, in Epicenter, the same area of the Mainshock, main shock, caused as the displaced Crust (geology), crust adjusts to the effects of the main shock. Large earthq ...

measuring magnitude 4.5 shook Harnai, injuring six people. The injured individuals were transported to a local hospital where they were treated. It was reported on October 16 that a casualty died while undergoing treatment at a hospital in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

, bringing the death toll to 27.

Response

Following the quake, troops from the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

were dispatched to Harnai to aid in rescue and relief operations. At least nine injured victims in need of medical treatment were transported via helicopters from the affected region to

. The

Inter-Services Public Relations The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) () is the media and public relations wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces. It broadcasts and coordinates military news and information to the country's Media of Pakistan, civilian media and the Pakistani ...

, army, medical personnel, response workers, and officials are working together to coordinate the rescue and relief works. A team of search and rescue individuals from Rawalpindi was sent to Harnai to find survivors among the wreckage. Provincial officials in Balochistan announced that 200,000

Pakistani rupee The Pakistani rupee (; ISO code: PKR; symbol: ; abbreviation: Re (singular) and Rs (plural)) is the official currency in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the State Bank of Pakistan. It was officia ...

s (approximately 1,170 US dollars) would be compensated to the families of each deceased individual. Sania Nishtar, a Pakistani physician, was to pay a visit to the affected area on instructions by the

Prime Minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan (, Roman Urdu, romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Cabinet of Pakistan, cabinet, desp ...

, where she would meet the victims and provide relief. Relief workers guided by the

International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

were dispatched to the province to provide medical assistance. Residents who were homeless after the quake were housed in tents and provided basic needs. Despite the supplies given, many residents were still complaining that they are insufficient. Officials said that the delivery of supplies are delayed due to landslides and that the areas are not easily accessible. A relief package of 12,000

s was approved by the

government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan () (abbreviated as GoP), constitutionally known as the Federal Government, commonly known as the Centre, is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal republic located in South Asia, con ...

and is planned to be distributed to each affected family. The package would be distributed to the families Ehsaas Programme. Food trucks arrived in Harnai on October 11, supplying food for survivors. The

and

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

, together with the district administration distributed tents and food to over 500 individuals. The army also conducted building inspections. Medical tents setup by the army has treated at least 3,000 people. Mining in the Harnai district was brought to a temporary ban by the Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation from October 12 to 19. Officials fear aftershocks could result in further casualties if they collapse mines. Local officials have banned the transportation of relief supplies outside the

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Balochistan earthquake, 2021 2021 disasters in Pakistan 2021 earthquakes in Asia

Earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

2021 earthquake Earthquakes in Pakistan Harnai District October 2021 in Pakistan 2021 earthquakes