KARACHI: An earthquake measuring 4.9 on Richter scale jolted Nawabshah, Sakrand, Matiari, Hala and Hyderabad as well as their adjoining areas at 1.24am on Friday leaving one person dead and three others injured. There were reports of damage to a large number of buildings and other concrete structures. Roofs and walls of several houses and shops collapsed in the rural areas. The Met office in Karachi said the epicentre was 60 kilometres northeast of Nawabshah at a depth of 20 kilometres. The latitude was 26.74 towards north and 68.98 towards east, it added.

A young man, Wasim Memon, 23, was killed and nine of his family members were injured when the roof of their house caved in in Memon Mohallah of Sann town of Jamshoro district. Several other people were injured in incidents of roof and wall collapse in the same town. Police source said that the minaret and dome of a mosque, walls of a hospital and a police station and several houses developed cracks due to the quake.

Many more katcha houses were reported damaged in the rural areas.

Published in Dawn September 24th, 2016