A massive earthquake on 7.8 Richter scale hit Pakistan and caused the formation of a an island.
The epicenter of the 7.7-magnitude quake was in the district of Awaran, a remote and mountainous area where at least 45 people were killed, the BBC said. Another 150 died in the nearby Balochistan province, according to Pakistan’sExpress Tribune newspaper. The island, which is reportedly about 30 feet high and nearly 100 feet in diameter, is located in the Arabian Sea nearly a mile off the nation’s shoreline.
MORE THAN 1,000 COULD BE DEAD
Zahid Rafi, a principal seismologist at Pakistan’s National Seismic Monitoring Center, told CNN that the island’s formation was “not surprising,” given how powerful the earthquake was. CNN says the quake’s tremors lasted about two minutes and that aftershocks could be felt in Karachi, hundreds of miles southeast of Awaran. The BBC added that the quake could be felt into Delhi, India‘s capital. Additionally, the British news service said that about 30 percent of the homes in Awaran had fallen during the quake and that many are feared to be trapped beneath the rubble. The United States Geological Survey has issued a “red” alert for the earthquake, which means the agency is predictingmore than 1,000 could be dead and the cost of damages could rise above $1 billion.
Source:
http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/24/4767136/pakistan-island-created-by-earthquake-awaran-balochistan
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