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| October 22, 2005 | Saturday | Ramzan 17, 1426 |
More quakes cannot be ruled out: Met chief
ISLAMABAD, Oct 21: Meteorologists said on Friday the Pakistani capital could be categorised as being at greater risk of earthquakes after the Oct 8 quake, but the government played down the concern, saying quakes cannot be forecast.
The devastating quake two weeks ago that killed more than 50,000 people was magnitude 7.6 and its epicentre was about 95 km northeast of Islamabad.
It was the first time such a big earthquake had been recorded so close to the capital, which was built in the 1960s.
The head of Pakistan’s Meteorological Department, Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry, said up till now Islamabad had been classified as being in a category three earthquake zone, a moderate hazard seismic zone. But he said seismic zone classifications had to be revised after Oct 8 and Islamabad might fall into the high-risk category.
“The zoning has to be redefined after this earthquake,” Chaudhry told Reuters. “Islamabad may go into the high hazard, or very high hazard, category as the epicentres are coming closer than before.”
New fault lines might have opened up, posing greater danger to the city, but that would only be determined by geological studies, another meteorologist said.
“The redefining of the zones will take place once the aftershocks are over ... but Islamabad will definitely go to the higher level,” said the second meteorologist, who declined to be identified.
Most of Pakistan is considered at some risk from earthquakes as below the ground the Indian plate of the earth’s crust is pushing north into the Eurasian plate.
While Azad Kashmir and adjoining parts of the NWFP bore the brunt of the Oct 8 quake, 73 people were killed when two 10-storey blocks of an apartment complex collapsed in Islamabad.
They were the only buildings in the city to collapse during the quake and the government has ordered an inquiry.
CONSTRUCTION CODES: The meteorologist said the epicentre of one of many aftershocks since Oct 8, measuring 3.4, was just behind the Margalla Hills which overlook Islamabad to the north.
But Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said the government would take all measures to ensure that buildings in the capital were safe.
“Tokyo and San Francisco are two cities which frequently suffer earthquakes but they have constructed buildings up to 50 and 60 storeys and they are standing,” he told reporters.
“There may be some areas where there can be some seismic activity ... (but) there is no science that can predict earthquakes.”
The government was revising laws for the construction of high-rise buildings in the capital as well other cities to avoid any disaster, he said.
“Now we will conduct soil tests wherever we undertake a major project and then we will conduct seismic tests ... We will use modern technology. Now we will not use obsolete technology to construct buildings,” he said.
Aziz said a Turkish team was due to visit Pakistan soon to help authorities set up more stringent checks.—Reuters
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