GILGIT: Rescue teams continued their operations in quake-hit areas of Astore district on Saturday following a 5.4 magnitude earthquake on Dec 30, according to the Gilgit Baltistan District Management Authority but there were complaints of sluggish pace of restoration work.

Tremors were also felt in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Muzaffarabad at around 10:18pm.

Several aftershocks continued after the quake causing landslides blocking the Karakoram Highway, Gilgit to Skardu road and other link roads. No injuries were reported but homes and buildings were severely damaged with several people displaced and stranded in freezing temperatures.

Large number of Astore residents protested outside the Gilgit Press Club on Friday bemoaning slow restoration work in the quake-hit areas. They demanded sending helicopters on rescue and relief sorties to recover stranded villagers in isolated villages and deliver food, water and medicines to them. They also wanted a state of emergency to be declared.

Several houses severely damaged, residents displaced

“For the past five days aftershocks continue to rattle the area while the 22-kilometre Astore Road, which connects the residents of Astore to other areas, remains cut off,” said Maulana Abdul Sami, emir of the Jamaat-i-Islami Gilgit Baltistan chapter, who came to the demonstration to meet the protesters.

“More than 25,000 people live in Doya Union Council and they have been disconnected. Hundreds of homes have been damaged in villages Dashkin, Mushkin and Eidgah. Power supply and mobile communications have also been disrupted,” he added.

He criticised the slow pace of the restoration work urging relevant authorities to immediately provide relief items to the quake-affected.

Force Command Northern Areas (FCNA) Commander Maj Gen Ehsan Mehmood Khan and Gilgit Baltistan chief secretary Khurram Agha viewed the quake areas from a helicopter, according to a press release. Maj Gen Khan stated that every possible step would be taken to provide relief and clear all the blocked roads.

The Skardu Road was re-opened for traffic and telephone communication restored, according to the ISPR press release. Army personnel, engineers, doctors are all part of the rescue and relief operations in the quake-hit region, added the statement.

Furthermore, food, medicines and tents have also been dispatched to the areas. Army helicopters have also shifted patients to Skardu, it stated.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari expressed sorrow over the plight of the people affected by the earthquake.

In 2009, the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly was created through a presidential order and elections were held. The PPP won the elections and completed a five-year term in office.

Pakistan is located in the Indus-Tsango Suture Zone, roughly 200 kilometres north of the Himalaya front, which has one of the highest rates of seismicity.

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2020