An earthquake of magnitude 5.1 jolted parts of Balochistan on Friday morning, the National Seismic Monitoring Centre (NSMC) confirmed.
The NSMC said that the centre of the earthquake was 80 kilometres north of Bela city of Balochistan. Tremors were felt in Khuzdar, Dalbandin, Harnau, Omara, Washuk and Chaghi districts. The quake created panic in the affected areas forcing them to leave their houses in fear. “The roofs of hundreds of houses collapsed in the Arinji area of Khuzdar,” Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) officials said, quoting reports reaching the provincial capital.
The officials said that a rescue operation has been launched in the affected areas, however, no loss of life has so far been reported from many parts of the province. Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Quddus Bizinjo on Friday directed PDMA to immediately launch relief activities in the affected areas. “The relief operation will be launched on war footings in the quake-stricken areas,” the chief minister said. Expressing his grief over the loss of properties, he said, “We stand by the affected population and they will not be left alone in this critical hour”.
