11 killed and 172 houses damaged: NDMA
RECORDER REPORT
ISLAMABAD: The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Thursday issued a detailed report on damages and losses due to the recent earthquake of 6.8 magnitude that shook the northern parts of the country leaving 11 dead and 79 injured and 172 houses damaged in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Gilgit Baltistan (GB) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
The NDMA in the aftermath of 6.8 magnitude earthquake from Hindukush region of Afghanistan, issued the situation report based on its initial or preliminary assessment.
However, with detailed feedback from local administrations, district disaster management authorities (DDMAs) and departments, respective provincial authorities submitted detailed reports.
The summary of losses or damages and major incidents reported so far revealed out of 11 total deaths all occurred in KP including six males, three females and two children. Similarly, the maximum injured were also reported in KP including 32 females, 32 males and 13 children along with two males injured in Punjab. However, 172 houses got damaged whereas in KP out of 169 total some 147 got partially damaged and 22 houses got completely damaged during the earthquake. A house got partially damaged in GB and two houses got partially damaged in AJK. Some 19 livestock animals got killed, out of which 17 were reported in KP and two in AJK.
It added that on the directions of Chairman NDMA ground verification was being carried out and detailed reports would be submitted by all departments and authorities to verify the reports already submitted.
However, in KP, some four schools and four other buildings were also partially damaged.
In GB, a mosque and a cattle shed were reported damaged. The Sandi Yasin bridge was partially damaged in Ghizer.
In AJK, one cattle shed was partially damaged.
In Punjab, seven additional people reported injured were those experiencing dizziness and hypertension.
However, as per reports from provincial disaster management authorities (PDMAs), state disaster management authority (SDMA), Gilgit Baltistan Disaster Management Authority (GBDMA) and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Administration updates were shared in the pictorial overview.
All PDMAs, SDMA, GBDMA and ICT Administration were requested to undertake comprehensive damage assessment of respective areas especially of high-rise structures or apartment buildings to ensure that there were no safety concerns, the report said.
The NDMA report underlined that any damaged building should only be inhabited once it was cleared from the concerned authorities. The National Highway Authority (NHA) and Frontier Works Organization
(FWO) were requested to ensure that inspection of bridges was completed immediately to ensure safety across all communication arteries, it said.
