Introduction
Quetta valley which lies between north latitudes 29° 45′ and 30° 20; and east longitudes 66° 50 and 67° 15, is situated at 1650 meters above sea level and is surrounded by Chiltan (south-west), Takatu (north-east) and Murdar (east-south-east) mountain ranges. The peaks of Chiltan, Takatu and Zarghun are distinctively visible from Quetta. The Zarghun peak (east-north-east of Quetta) is the highest (3754 meters) but because of its distance (24 kilometers) from Quetta seems the smallest.
During the British Raj, Quetta was of utmost strategic importance to British and was considered an important outpost of the Empire the station was secured to keep an eye on Russia in case it attacked India (the British would have sent Army into Afghanistan if Russia had attacked India). Quetta also controlled the trade route from India to Kandahar as well as the Bolan Pass to the south, the road to Kalat State. It is said that in 1872 Robert Groves Sandeman, a British Army captain at the time, was the man who had his eyes on Quetta and had expressed his wish to be there. Five years later in 1877 it was occupied officially.
Figure 1: Balochistan district map showing Quetta, Chaghai, Mastung, Kalat and Bolan districts, parts of which were affected by 1935 earthquake. Population figures for 1998 have also been given in the map (Source: Govt of Balochistan).
The city was designed to meet the needs of British Garrison, with about 12,000 troops stationed there. In fact Quetta developed and prospered because of British military presence.
At the time of the earthquake the total area of the Cantonments, Civil Station and city was about 25 square miles.
The Region was shaken @ three minutes past three (03:03)
Generally speaking, many people in the hot summers of Quetta prefer sleeping outside in verandahs/court yard or [even] on their roofs and in the streets. The same was true about the summer seasons of the1930′s. It has been reported that in 1935 the month of May in Quetta was pleasantly warm to hot, however the night of May 30/31st was a little bit cooler. The moon had been new and it was very dark outside. On the fateful early morning of Friday, May 31, 1935 at three minutes past three (3:03) people were fast asleep when a major earthquake of 7.7 struck Quetta and surrounding areas, killing more than 30,000 people in just less than 30 seconds. Earthquake’s epicenter was 4.0 kilometers southwest of the village of Ali Jaan (Latitude: 28.87.00; Longitude: 66.40.00) or 153 kilometers SSW of Quetta or 440 kilometers NNW of Karachi.
In a split second most of the houses were flattened and majority of their occupants buried; those who survived were crying and shouting for help. All communications inside Quetta were down; the telegraph lines from Kalat and Quetta to Chaman and Jacobabad were broken and the city was completely cut off from the rest of the world, though later on communication with the Government of India at Shimla was established by radio. However, the railway and road communications, including the section through the Bolan Pass were not badly damaged; the railway station at Spezand was still intact. Luckily the water pipes that supplied water to the residents and the power stations were not seriously damaged. There had been a few points of water leakage at various places but they were fixed. In addition, immediately after the earthquake three small fires broke out in the City.
The area of destruction was confined to a narrow zone that in the north extended from Baleli and Quetta to the south-westerly direction into Brahui or Harboi hills, covering an area of about 160 km long and 25 km wide.
In Quetta the Civil Lines and town were separated from the cantonment by the Habib Naala (nullah) – a water course. Another water course the Durrani Naala was located a kilometer further north and ran parallel to Habib Naala for most of its length. Fortunately the cantonment area, located on the higher ground to the north of Habib Naala, was spared a total destruction as the shockwaves had penetrated only little northwards beyond the Habib Naala towards Durrani Naala, decreasing rapidly the damaging effect towards the north-east (Fig. 4). Only those areas of the cantonment which were in the immediate vicinity of Durrani Naala (a ditch or watercourse) and the Civil Lines had suffered serious damage. Many of the officers’ bungalows in the southern quarter of the cantonment had been destroyed and there were some casualties as well. The Garrison church and the British and Indian Military hospitals were undamaged.
The airfield of the Royal Air Force located to the north-west of Quetta (zone 8 in Fig. 4) was completely destroyed, killing 55 Royal Air Force personnel and dependants and 66 local employees. Of the two squadrons based at Quetta, only three of No.31 Squadron’s aircraft remained serviceable and all of No.5 Squadron’s aircraft were damaged; only the hangars remained intact. By 11:30 am the three undamaged aircrafts were flying on reconnaissance duties to Chaman, Pishin, Ziarat, Loralai and Sibi.
Quetta city had been completely destroyed. The Civil Lines to the south of Habib Naala was low lying part of Quetta. It was densely populated and had an area of about 4 square kilometers; about 15000 people alone were said to have been killed here. The Police Lines, the Durbar Hall, Post Office, Telegraph Office, the Civil and Mission Hospitals, the Club and the railway quarters were ruined and, the Residency was damaged.
Sir Norman Cater who was the ‘Agent’ to the Governor General and the most important man in the State, managed to escape from the Residency but his staff, subordinates and their families were not lucky enough and practically they had all been killed or injured. The Quetta Police had suffered the heaviest of losses and had ceased to exist as a force. In fact there was no civilian administrative machinery left to run the rescue operations after the destructive earthquake. In the bazaar area not a single building remained standing, they had all been laid flat. The city streets were covered by rubble and debris, it was hard to trace where the streets had been. In the extreme south-east corner of the city the village of Kassi Killa – Kassi Fort – and in the south of city the village of Sariab where respectively the early ethnic Pashtoon and Baloch tribes lived were razed to the ground. The houses in Sheikh Manda, another small village about 6 kilometers northwest of Quetta, had been flattened and most of their occupants got buried under the rubble. Scores of villages in Quetta subdivision and Kalat State were totally destroyed, with 70% of population either dead or injured.
In Kalat State, 2,900 were killed and 5,000 injured out of a population of 10,000. Kalat town itself was ruined with 120 people killed and 50 injured while. Small settlements in Shirinab valley which extends from Kahnak to Manguchar south-west of Mastung were completely destroyed. In Manguchar itself 185 people were killed and 185 injured, while Paringabad which was the only large settlement in this region was also destroyed; 369 people were killed here and 234 injured.
Some 20 km south of Kalat on the main road to Surab, about 5 km east off the road near the village of Thok (28.333N, 66.517E), large quantities of liquid mud were observed coming out from the top of an old mud volcano at the time of the earthquake, the eruption lasting for nine hours. None of the local inhabitants could recall any similar event in the past. The new flows had spread out beyond the limits of the old occupying an area of radius 140m.
According to the reports, ground deformation extended for 105 kilometers from the south side of the Chiltan range to Kalat, which was mostly in the form of 2-20 centimeter cracks in the alluvium. The ground on the western side of the cracks near Mastung was found to have risen on average up to 80 centimeters while in some places the earth was heaved up several meters. Near Mastung Road railway station, the cracks ran across the Quetta-Nushki railway, deforming and offsetting the tracks vertically. These cracks indicate that the earthquake was associated with a Zone of faults that run along the eastern edge of the Chiltan range extending southwards towards Mastung and Kalat. This led to the understanding that the earthquake occurred on a strike-slip fault within the Ghazaband Fault Zone (Fig. 2), which extends to the south passing near the towns of Mastung and Kalat. Lawrence et al. (1992) and Yeats et al. (1997) have also associated these ruptures with the Ghazaband fault zone which has a series of large north-south left-lateral strike-slip systems that accommodate plate boundary shear. It is also important to note here that according to Ambraseys & Bilhams (2003) the Shahrigh and Mach earthquakes of 1931 may have paved the path for the 1935 Quetta earthquake.
Fig. 2 Tectonic map of Khuzdar Block (The map is a bit technical and would therefore be difficult for a lay person to interpret. However, the reader’s attention is drawn to the ‘bold line’ representing ‘Ghazaband Fault’ that separates Mashkai-Wulgai Zone from Khojak Flysch’ the two arrows showing the movement towards southwest. Fig. after Barnet et al 1992).
Foreshocks: No shocks were reported before the earthquake, but a bright orange glow was seen over Quetta to the west, and further south, near Kalat, flashes of light were reported along the flanks of the mountains on both sides of the valley.
Aftershocks: The main shock on the morning of 31st May was followed by a long sequence of relatively small magnitude earthquakes. But it was on June the 2nd at 2:50 pm when another severe shock (M=6.0) occurred. It was the largest aftershock of the 1935 earthquake that had damaged the railway line and disrupted the telegraph trunk line, causing further damage at Kalat, Manguchar and Mastung regions but it had less impact on Quetta as it had already been completely destroyed two days earlier, leaving no building standing. Had there been any houses left in the lower part of Quetta, the shock would certainly have damaged them. However it did trigger more land slides in the Shirinabad valley; rock falls from sides of the Chiltan Range, south-west of Quetta was also reported. It has also been suggested that the same aftershock may have been responsible for some damage that was reported from the Nushki (Noshki) region. Furthermore, shocks continued to be felt until the beginning of October that year.
How far away the Earthquake was felt?
According to Urdu and Hindi press reports, away from the epicentral region, the earthquake was felt over a very large area in and beyond present-day Pakistan to the east in Amritsar, Shimla and as far as Sultanpur and Agra. In south-eastern Afghanistan at Kandahar and Spin Boldak damage to dilapidated rural houses was reported.
Figure 3. 1935 Quetta Earthquake ‘Intensity Map’ showing regions where it was felt (Courtesy of www.asc-india.org)
Rescue Operations
When the earth shook in the early hours of the morning, it was still dark and people were sound asleep, therefore the destruction it caused in terms of lives and property was total. But the timing also made it very difficult to coordinate all rescue efforts so it was not until dawn broke out that the coordination process got underway. The fact that nearly all the civil officers and police had been killed made the administration non-existent. The agent to the Governor-General Sir Norman Cater (the head of the Government administration) and General Karslake had to deal with a very difficult task of organizing the rescue operations. It is said that it was one of the quickest and most efficient disaster operations that had ever been undertaken, and of course the credit went to General Karslake and his troops for this.
Luckily the troops in the cantonment area, with only a few casualties, had survived the total annihilation and immediately after the earthquake they played a very important role of providing rescue. Besides, on the night of May 30, soldiers of the Queen’s Royal Regiment and the Second Battalion of the 11th Sikh Regiment were busy in an all-night Exercise near Baleli, several miles to the north-west of Quetta city. When the earthquake occurred they felt it badly and marched 20 miles towards cantonments. By 7 am the Sikh Regiment got to R. A. F. Lines and took part in the rescue operation while the Queens went to the civil area and the City. Despite the fact that they were already physically exhausted due to night drill and having marched for another twenty miles, yet, they actively participated in rescue operations.
But before dawn what rescue operations were conducted and by whom, let’s have a look at the few passages that I am quoting below in their entirety from the report ‘The Quetta Earthquake 1935′(I have just put them in timely – temporal – order without touching the original text):
· 2nd Indian Divisional Signals: within half an hour of the first shock this unit brought down in their own motor transport, were at work in the City. The lights of their lorries and motorcycles were used to light up the main road of the City.
· 2nd Indian Divisional Engineers: 3:30 am; 21st Field Company Royal Bombay Sappers and Miners sent the bulk of the company into the City.
· 5th Bn. 8th Punjab regiment: 3:30 am. First parties went to the Civil Hospital and Civil Lines. 4:15 am: remainder of battalion went to the City.
· 1st West Yorkshire Regiment: 3:45 am; 20 men in officers’ motor cars and 40 bicycles started work in the Civil Lines. At 4am half a company arrived in the main road of the City and tackled the fires. 4:30 am. One company arrived at the Civil Hospital. The rest of the Battalion proceeded into the City.
· 1st Bn. 8th Gurkha Rifles: 3:45 am; Parties in officers’ motors went to the residency to dig out the survivors of their guard. The remainder of the battalion followed as fast as they could to the Civil area.
· 2nd Bn. 8th Gurkha Rifles: 3:45 am. One company in Motor Transport was sent to the City. Another company went on the foot to the Police Lines, where it was joined by the remainder of the battalion by 6:15 am.
· 7th Light Tank Company: 4:30 am. All lorries went down to the City to work as ambulances. 6:30 am: the Company, complete with tanks started rescue work in the R. A. F. Lines. One sub-section was detached to the City for excavation work and another was sent into the Civil Lines to tow away dead camels and bullocks.
· 24th Mountain Brigade, Royal Artillery: 5:30 am; One party went to the main road of the city, up which they began to clear a path. Another party went to the Civil Hospital and Police Lines where the drag ropes they had brought with them were of great assistance in pulling away fallen roofs.
However with the day break at 6 am, within three hours of the earthquake a Relief Headquarters was set up on the lawn of the ruined Quetta Club. General Karslake was leading the rescue operations. He divided up the devastated area into 8 zones and assigned them to his troops (Fig. 4).
Figure 4. Sketch map of Quetta showing Major-General H. Karslake’s Disposition of Troops for Rescue Work (made @ 6 a.m., 31st May 1935.). Fig. Courtesy of ‘Govt. of India Press Simla 1935 report.
(Please note that in the figure 4 above, I have redrawn the sketch map without modifying anything from the original. However, I have added to it shockwaves (bottom left, southwest corner), indicating the direction from which Quetta was hit. I have also shown the bold ‘zone demarcation’ lines in blue which were originally in black colour and lastly I have shown the decreasing intensity of earthquake in Cantonment area, beyond Habib Naala, by a shade of grey, diminishing towards northeast – top right corner. The two bold lines in black designate the two naalaas mentioned in the text: lower or southern one is known as Habib Naala/watercourse and the upper or northern one is the Durrani Naala)
The primary concern of the military authorities in Quetta was then how to coordinate all extraneous measures for relief and assistance, a task that Adjutant-General’s Branch took charge of. The measures included: The control of the entrance into Quetta – control arrangements were put into place and passes issued; this objective was achieved by the
following:
The Declaration of Martial Law: In order to protect buried property and prevent the unauthorized person from coming into the ruined city, a Martial Law was declared. The
a) city was cordoned off by a double apron barbed wire fence and was guarded day and night by military and police. On the other hand the message was sent out that any claimant of the buried property in Quetta could ask for it by submitting a claim to the Deputy Commissioner, Collector or Political Agent of the area where he/she lived.
b) Closure of the Bolan Pass: In order to prevent people from pouring into Quetta where the situation was already serious including the shortage of food supplies, the military authorities took the decision to close the Bolan Pass, allowing only persons on official duty to go through. From 4th until the 28th June military control was Exercised and 141 passes were officially issued, mainly, to press correspondents, cinematograph firms, doctors, army contractors, government officials and to officers on duty and their servants.
1) The military authorities assumed responsibilities for all evacuations, and all available military ambulance trains were put into commission and were used alike for civil and military casualties:
a) Evacuation: On the Race Course and Polo grounds a Refugee Camp was set up and managed by officers from the Staff College. Muslims, Hindus and Anglo-Indians were assigned separate sites where they had places for cooking, latrines, hospitals and ration stands. By noon the camp took some shape and was ready to receive the first batch of refugees. On the first day 3,000 cooked rations and 800 blankets were issued while on the 2nd day (1st June) 15,000 rations were issued and the number of refugees kept growing in the coming days. Furthermore volunteers and tehsildaars from the nearby villages, equipped with local knowledge offered special assistance. Later on when the city was being salvaged and cleared of its rubble, the Race Course Refugee Camp was moved to a site near Brewery; 1,130 refugees were still living in the camp.
Special trains were run to evacuate Indian refugees and wounded, and families of British troops to Karachi. The families of British personnel were also sent to Karachi who if had stayed in Quetta, in their temporary accommodations of tents, risked falling ill as there had been a few cases of chicken-pox and dysentery involving their children. Eventually, from Karachi on 19th June, 900 of them sailed for England in the specially chartered ‘S.S. Karanja’ (see photo #). Moreover, arrangements were also made to evacuate 5000 people to their homes in India; they were wives and children of Indian and Gurkha troops who were based in Quetta.
Despite reduced staff, trains were run to their maximum capacity. On May 31st and June 1st outgoing trains were fully loaded, with people crowding and stampeding at the Railway Station. Only in those two days about 5000 people left by trains. Between 2nd and 14th June about 28,000 passengers had left Quetta by trains for different parts of the then India, i.e., Karachi, Dera Ghazi Khan, Multan, Lahore, Gujranwala, Bahawalpur and Amritsar. Altogether 88 trains left Quetta between 31st May and 14th June: 59 of those were scheduled trains in all directions, 18 refugee trains, 4 ambulance trains and 7 troop trains.
Casualty Bureau was set up at Army Headquarters where from the available information lists of civil and military casualties were prepared and then passed on to their relatives and to the Press.
1) In addition, the Bureau dealt with thousands of enquiries that were made by relatives of the victims of the earthquake.
Photo1. The Race Course Refugee Camp
Transport: Most of the privately owned cars in the Civil Area had been smashed. The shortage of vehicles was further exacerbating the already chaotic situation. Ultimately every available army lorry and vehicle was used to carry the troops to the devastated areas. The same vehicles were then used to enhance ambulance services of the British and Indian Military Hospitals, to collect and bring the injured to the military hospitals.
Water Supply: Luckily the pipe lines which ran for 14 miles from Urak to the reservoirs above the Staff College were not damaged; however, the main 10 inch pipe line that supplied water to the City was broken in many places. Repairing them was not an easy task as the subsequent aftershocks kept causing new points of leakage. In short, the water supply was maintained by all costs and it never failed.
Electric Supply: As a result of the utter devastation the ‘Quetta Electric Supply Company (or QUESCo!) had ceased to function. The Sappers and Miners, under the direction of the Commanding Royal Engineer Officer, took over QUESCo and after having repaired as many lines as possible, supplied light to the hospitals the same evening! The question we should pose to ourselves: will the QUESCo of 2008 be able to cope with a bigger emergency and provide the life-line to the hospitals and emergency medical camps, given that Quetta is overcrowded and under-resourced?
Medical Help: As is always the case in natural disasters and war times, the medical profession comes under extreme pressure to provide medical help quickly and efficiently and in the case of Quetta earthquake of 1935 they rose to the occasion superbly. Doctors, nurses, staffs and volunteers worked round the clock. Since the Civil and Military hospitals had been destroyed the injured were treated on the verandahs and in the tents where stretchers and mattresses were used as beds. Furthermore, India was also asked for extra medical help but in the meantime the medical staff of the two military hospitals, some of whom had been injured, worked non-stop; they were assisted by their civilian colleagues. During those difficult hours everyone was trying his/her level best to be able to provide every little help they could offer and in this regard it is worth mentioning the important role that was played by about a hundred wives of British officers who offered their services at the hospitals and fulfilled their public duty. Another example from the historical records will help us appreciate the circumstances under which the medical staff worked: ‘The Indian Military Hospital which was left with only seven doctors had become a major ‘casualty clearing station’. By 10 a.m on the May the 31st, about 1000 injured had arrived and they continued to arrive at the rate of 200 per hour for the rest of the day. By the evening of 1st June, 4,500 injured had been admitted. Although this was the largest military hospital in India, with a maximum capacity of 600 beds, it was obviously an undertaking of the first magnitude. The staff which got extra boost by the addition of extra doctors, 45 officers and British soldiers’ wives, as mentioned above, organized medical wards in verandahs and tents. In that hospital alone 450 major operations were performed, 1,200 anaesthetics administered and 300 fractures set. One surgeon performed 157 major operations in four days. It was estimated that during the earthquake period from 31st May until 14th June, between 20,000 and 25,000 patients received medical treatment.’
Outside of Quetta, doctors visited the villages and with the help of troops the seriously injured were evacuated to the hospitals. Sanitation, in particular the provision of ‘safe’ water and the disposal of animal corpses, was dealt with on priority basis. On June the 2nd seven days’ rations were issued to the inhabitants of the destroyed villages.
The soldiers worked in very dreadful conditions with epidemic disease a constant threat. The fear was that if the dead bodies were not disposed of quickly, they could become a serious health hazard to the living. For example by the evening of the 3rd June the stench had become unbearable and dangerous, to such an extent that the medical advice was given to abandon the intensive work. Dead bodies were piled on carts and taken to the Muslim burial grounds and to the Hindu burning ‘ghats’. There was no one to mourn them or care how they were being transported – naked or covered with dirt. It was due to the timely planning and the methods adopted by the medical authorities that no epidemic occurred. It is also interesting to note that during the first 36 hours every living person was rescued, often posing serious risk to the lives of the rescuers.
Dr. Henry Holland, head of the Mission Hospital at Quetta, had been appointed Chief Medical Officer; he had been living in the frontier region for more than 30 years. He was a missionary doctor who had restored sight to thousands and was very popular with Europeans and with the Indian immigrants in Quetta as well as with the indigenous tribes whom he knew very well. The Indian called him ‘deendaar’ a very religious person. At one point when order came from Shimla, after General Karslake’s recommendation, to evacuate all the refugees from the racecourse and hospitals to other cities like Karachi and Lahore in case cholera, smallpox or plague broke out, and when the plan of evacuation got underway and about 20,000 people had already been evacuated then it became known that the last remaining 3000 people from racecourse and some patients from military hospitals did not wish to leave the city as they were natives of Quetta. The authorities were adamant to enforce their plan but it was the protests and persuasions of Dr Holland that the authorities backed off and allowed the natives to stay behind.
(While writing this article I had in my mind to research and write a separate article on Dr. Henry Holland’s contribution when coincidentally I came across the following article which is based on the excerpts from Dr Holland’s autobiography ‘Frontier Doctor: an autobiography’ and which I think beautifully highlights various aspects of Dr Holland’s life. Thankfully article’s writer Moinuddin Khan has saved me the extra-effort!).
The Boy Scouts
Let’s not forget those twenty five Rover Scouts who had especially come from Lahore with their leader Mr. H. W. Hogg, a Squadron-Leader, to help facilitate the relief operations. On Dr Holland’s request they took the job of removing the dead bodies which due to hot weather were getting decomposed very quickly and needed to be disposed of as soon as possible to avert any major epidemic crisis.
Please also read by clicking ‘Quetta Earthquake (Rover Scouts)’
The Viceroy’s Earthquake Fund:
On June the 3rd with the personal donation of Rs. 5000 the Viceroy launched an appeal to help the victims of the earthquake. The response was immediate and very generous: donations from all the sections of the society from across India and many other parts of the world came pouring in. Within a week after the launch of appeal, Rs.4.5 lakhs were pledged. The government of India donated Rs. 10 lakhs while the British government gave £ 50,000.00; a subscription list was also opened by the Lord Mayor of London. Other nations also made some practical donations. Australia contributed £ 10,000.00.
Viceroy’s fund was spent on priority basis to deal with matters of immediate relief. Special measures were taken to ensure the continuity of those children’s education who were financially in a difficult situation after the earthquake. In order to help the destitute artisans buy tools and equipment so that they could resume earning their own livelihood, the local relief authorities were allowed to make special grants towards achieving this objective. Similarly, tradesmen and professional men from the middle classes were helped financially to re-start their businesses. Moreover, refugees could travel free to return to their homes or to a place where they had assurance of support or employment…
The Army’s Part – as reported by ‘The Times, September 1935:
Note: In 1935 £300,000 was equal to Rs 40 lakhs (or 4,000000), today in 2010 it would be 300,000 x 135=???, well I leave that to you!
General Salvage
On July the 30th a law called ‘The Quetta Distribution of Salved Property Law, 1935′ was promulgated, setting out the duties and legal position of the Claims Commissioner or Commissioners as appointed by the Agent to the Governor-General in Balochistan.
A well organized 2,000 men strong ‘Labour Corps’ mainly comprising local inhabitants of Quetta was formed which undertook the task of clearing streets of its rubble and debris. By the 1st August, Anderson Road, Bruce Road, the Habib Naala, Suraj Gunj Road, Mission Road, Kansi (Kassi) Road and Barnes Road had been cleared while by the 12th August Yate Road, Haroon Road and Masjid Road had been cleared. It was after this date that the restoration of salved property to its owners by the Claims Commissioner started.
The government of India appointed the following officials to deal with all matters relating to salvage and relief:
· Mr. B. M. Staig, I.C.S., Relief Commissioner with government of India – in Quetta.
· Lieutenant-Colonel A. E. B. Parsons, C. B. E., D. S. O., The Deputy Agent to the Governor General in Balochistan (In general charge of all matters regarding the earthquake and President of the Provincial Relief Fund Committee.)
· Mr. O. C. B. St. John, Secretary to the Deputy Agent to the Governor-General: was to entertain all applications for permits to enter Quetta and for relief from the Quetta Relief Fund and to deal with all enquiries pertaining to casualties and refugees.
· Major E. H. Gastrell, Calims Commissioner: had to deal with all matters regarding salvage within the sealed area and all claims and queries against buried property; he were to maintain equally an employment bureau for earthquake sufferers. He was assisted by two ‘political officers’ who supervised the extrication of property from damaged buildings.
Furthermore, Colonel Dawson was made head of ‘Public Works in Balochistan who on the civil side had under him Mr. Oddin Taylor as a Superintending Engineer. It is worth mentioning here that Mr. Oddin Taylor had built and maintained for some years the famous Sukkur Barrage, and finally Dr. Holland who was appointed as the Chief Medical Officer.
What I have witten above is an attempt to remind ourselves of the devastating Quetta earthquake of 1935, remembering its victims, the donors and those who contributed immensely in carrying out rescue operations and above all to learn from their experience. Both the oral and written narratives point towards one thing and, that is that the rescue operations and earthquake funds were managed efficiently and parsimoniously by the foreigners! The Government had provided everything possible to help provide relief to the sufferers. The media was allowed access to the devastated areas and representatives of about 10 English language Indian papers visited Quetta.
Furthermore we should also remember that the houses that suffered the most damage during the 1935 Earthquake were those made chiefly of mud brick construction. Only a few buildings with the reinforced concrete structures and the new railway quarters, situated in the most damaged part of the Civil Station, survived the earthquake with only minor damage because their construction was based on the earthquake-resistant principles following the powerful earthquakes of August 24 and 27 1931 that shook violently Harnai-Shahrigh and Mach regions respectively, destroying and damaging many buildings; Quetta was also shaken badly but with less structural damage.
By contrast in 2005 we witnessed, directly or indirectly, the devastation and misery caused by Balakot/Kashmir earthquake; more than 80 thousand people were killed; tens of thousands injured and an estimated 2 million people were made homeless. The world response was immediate and very generous. Billions of dollars were raised for the victims and that was in addition to the financial and material aid that was sent from the four corners of Pakistan by people belonging to all walks of life; these included those who were themselves living below the poverty line! The outcome? Three years on, thousands of people are still waiting, they are without any proper shelter and food; the victims have regularly been complaining of not getting the due attention and help. Moreover, many aid projects were marred by allegations of corruption, of which a few cases have been highlighted by the media: 1,2,3,4,5. Even as recently as on October 6, Jang online published a news item whereby the victims of Balakot/Kashmir earthquake were protesting and expressing their anger regarding their lamentable situation!
Part II
Are we prepared for the ‘Big One’?
Quetta of 2008 is quite a different place from that of 1935! In 1930′s it was a well planned, organized and well managed city with a population of about 40 to 50 thousand which in summer increased between 65,000 to 70,000 as thousands of people escaped the heat of the plains, from the nearby regions, and sought sanctuary in the pleasant summer season of Quetta; in the hot weather it was considered as a health resort. By contrast, Today’s Quetta has a population of somewhere between 1.5 to 2 million people and since 1935 the city instead of growing outwards has been growing uncontrollably fast, both inwards and upwards, in a very haphazard manner – a ticking time bomb waiting to implode! Before we could discuss any further the dangers of looming earthquakes in our region and our response to them, it would be helpful if we go briefly through a few earthquakes that hit the northern Balochistan over the last one hundred years.
A Few important earthquakes in the northern Balochistan
The examples below would prove that the northern Balochistan is situated in a region that is seismically active. On and off, the region has been having small and large earthquakes since the time immemorial. The reason we did not have any written records of these events is because a century ago or so the area was sparsely populated; there were no major urban centres and the access to the far flung rural areas was very difficult, if not impossible. On the other hand the majority of the people were not literate to keep the written record about how the events were shaping their region. The little bit of documentary record that we have about the region has been recorded by Arab and Persian historians.
Anyhow, it was the earthquake of 1888 that got a brief mention in some official documents (e.g., Gazetteer of Balochistan, 1906) because at the time the British were rulers in the region with a proper functioning administration in place; it would not be out of place here to mention that in terms of geology Pakistan started attracting earth scientists as early as 1851 when the systematic geologic surveys in the South Asian sub-continent began (Stratigraphy of Pakistan, 1977) while it was in 1887 when the first organized work was published; in fact most of the early geologists were British. For example, according to the Gazetteer of Balochistan (1906, page 30) by the end of 1888 earthquake shocks were frequent in Quetta, many buildings collapsed forcing many native people to leave the town and in the next paragraph (of page 31) another earthquake has been briefly described which occurred four years later on December 20, 1892 in the Khojak region; the earthquake was felt over a large area of Balochistan, damaging railway buildings and the railway line between Quetta and Chaman, near the Chaman end of the Khojak tunnel. A little bit further out side of the tunnel the railway lines got distorted to such an extent that the distance between Chaman and Quetta was decreased by up to 2.5 feet! And, according to Records of the Geological Survey of India (Vol. XXVI, Part II; in: the Gazetteer), a fissure in the ground was found to have run across the railway line at that place which could be traced for a short distance on either side of the line. According to Ambraseys et al (2003) aftershocks continued to be felt until the end of February 1893.
Photo showing distorted railway track, caused by the 1892 Chaman earthquake.
It’s interesting to note the fissure that was caused by 1892′s earthquake was in fact what is worldwide known today in the community of earth scientists as the great Nushki-Chaman or simply Chaman transform fault which as the name indicates runs through Nushki and extends far beyond the capital Kabul in Afghanistan! Actually, the Chaman fault defines the western most edge of the Indian Plate. And, just to remind ourselves here ‘Chaman fault’ is located only tens of miles to the west of Quetta (see Fig. 2).
For historical reasons, justice will be done to its (fissure’s) discoverer if I recount briefly how it was found and by whom. Again I invite you to refer to page 31, paragraph 2, of the ‘Gazetteer of Balochistan (1906) whereby we read about Captain McMahon (later on he became Sir A. H.) who while demarcating the Baloch-Afghan frontier observed that the fissure was part of a well-marked line of depression or indentation in the ground, originating from near Murgha Chaman which was located some 18 miles north of Chaman. Mr. McMahon then follows the fissure through into the hills of Khawaja Imran and then through to the valley of Spina Tizha and then again after ascending diagonally through the Khawaja Imran Range it descends into the Lora River, disappearing finally at the foot of the Sarlath hills of Nushki. Altogether Captain McMahon, I assume he himself, followed the fissure/line for about 120 miles. What I have rephrased above was from a written record, i.e., the Gazetteer of Balochistan, yet therein we read how the elderly tribesmen recount facts that they remembered and there were those events that were transferred verbally to them – from generation to generation. For example Captain McMahon found out from the aged tribesmen that at least on three occasions, during their lifetime, they experienced severe earthquakes in the region which caused appearance of deep fissures along the same line and that their elders told them the similar eye-account.
Finally, further down in the last paragraph the writer concludes his brief section under the rubric of ‘earthquakes’ by mentioning two more severe earthquakes, one of 1900 which caused a water spring to gush out on the slopes of Takatu in the village of Sraghurgai and another in the year 1902 which damaged buildings in Pishin, Kila Abdullah and Gulistan. So far we have read about 4 significant earthquakes that shook the region but caused little damage to the property and human lives simply because the region at the time was sparsely populated. Now, let’s find out a little bit more about other earthquakes that occurred in the region since 1893:
1893 Feb 13 (5.9) this earthquake caused some concern at Chaman but no damage. In Quetta it was much stronger than the shock of 20 December 1892 which implies that this was not an aftershock but a separate event with an epicenter not far from the town. It may be the shock which is said to have caused damage at Pishin and Bagh-e-Hindu sometime in early 1893. The earthquake was recorded at Strasbourg and if it be assumed that it occurred somewhere near Quetta, its magnitude should be about 5.9.
1900 Oct 17 (Loralai) M=6.1: several houses were destroyed in the villages of Bori, Mulla Sadiq & Surghundi Bala; appearance of fissures reported in the mountains.
1902 (Pishin): No date has been given for this severe earthquake which damaged many buildings in Pishin, Kila Abdulla and Gulistan. The shock was also felt at Chaman and Quetta and may have been responsible for the damage caused to the single track of the railway line that crosses the Pishin Lora plain.
1903 Dec. 23 (Dhadar) M=5.9: This earthquake occurred south of Bolan Pass in the Kachhi plain, destroying about 60 houses in Dhadar and damaging many more. Many people were reported to have been perished in this earthquake
1905 Sep 26 (Khan Mohammed Kot) M=6.4: Occurred in the Sulaiman mountains, damaging many buildings in the region of Rakhni and Khan Mohammed Kot while Loralai, Barkhan, Dera Ghazi Khan and Multan suffered lesser damage.
1908 March 05 (Shahrigh) M=6.4: This earthquake occurred in the Harnai valley, east of Quetta. Shahrigh and many villages to the south-east in the valley were destroyed.
1908 June 03, M=6.2: It was felt in Quetta and in much of the northeast Balochistan.
1909 October 20 (Kacchi) M=7.1: It was a severe earthquake causing extensive damage in the plain of Kacchi. The shock was widely felt. Bagh, Bellpat and Mudawa regions were badly affected, killing any people and scores got injured. The shock strongly shook Quetta, Nushki, Khuzdar and Dadhar; it was also felt at Multan and Dera Ismail Khan. The aftershocks continued for many months up to 1910.
1910 August 17, M=6.3: strong earthquake felt at Shikarpur in Sind province.
1913 Nov 01 @ 20 hrs: a severe shock felt at Bhag
1913 March 27, M=5.6: This earthquake was reported to have been felt in Dhadar, Bhag Rindhli and perhaps in Kalat
1913 Aug 7: Between August 7 and 9 many shocks were felt around Quetta and Pishin.
1914 March 08: Dhadar
1914 May 04: A mild shock was felt at Ziarat
1918 March 24: At 10:30 am a serious earthquake, without any damage, was reported from Quetta.
1920 April 26: A mild quake at about 13:35 was reported from Sibi.
1920 Dec 15: at 7:45 Harnai was hit by a strong earthquake. No important damage was reported.
1923 October 01 (M=6.1): occurred around Kacchi area.
1926 Sep 13: Mach was shaken by an earthquake
1927 May 04: Shahpur region and Kachhi were hit by a number of earthquakes.
1928 Oct 15: Katra (M=6.8): Settlements around Katra were destroyed; station along the railway line between Jacobabad and Sibi were shaken and most probably the earthquake was felt at Kalat.
1930 March 12: Barkhan District at Chuharkot and Loralai were hit by an earthquake; no damage was reported.
1930 Sep 28: Earthquakes reported from Khuzdar;
1930 October 10: Mastung was hit by this earthquake causing some damage here and to the Sheikhwasil levy post.
1931 August 24: Shahrigh (M=6.8): This earthquake and the one that followed two days later on August 27 need special mention since according to Ambrayes (2003) these two earthquakes may have been responsible for paving the path for the 1935 earthquake. The one that occurred on 24th August struck villages along a distance of about 30 km near the Sibi-Zardalu railway line; Khost was badly damaged while Shahrigh was half destroyed, killing two persons. Ziarat which is located about 20 km to the north of Khost was significantly damaged by this shock and the shock of August 27 1931, while, Sangan located about 30 km to the south of Shahrig was badly damaged. This earthquake had a radius of perceptibility of 310 km.
1931 August 27: Mach (M=7.3): The Sharigh earthquake of August 24 (magnitude MS6.8) was followed within 66 hours by the more powerful earthquake of Mach MS7.3. It was difficult to assess the damage done by the first shock since the damage caused by the second shock was very severe. It killed about 120 people and was felt over a large part of Balochistan and Sind; it covered an area of 550 km radius. The epicentral zone was about 140 km long and 15 km wide, following the Bolan Pass and the western foothills of the Kachhi plain. The damage was great at Mach where many buildings were damaged and many were ruined completely. The shock triggered large rock falls from the mountains north of Mach and in one or two cases the entrances to the tunnels were damaged by falling boulders.
1935 Quetta earthquake: present article
1955, February 18 Quetta earthquake (M=5.7): The epicentre of this earthquake was close to Quetta and about 15 km to the north of Quetta an area of about 7 km radius was damaged that included Chashma, Sragurgai and Sarantangai which had already been damaged previously by the foreshock of 12 February. About 10 people were reported to have been killed and 50 injured in the outlying villages of Quetta. The shock was strong at Chaman and was felt within a radius of about 120 km. Quetta itself suffered considerable damage. Many mud houses were completely destroyed and modern buildings and other structures, designed to resist earthquakes, suffered less.
1975 Oct 3 (6.8) An earthquake on the Chaman fault zone, close to the borders with Afghanistan at Spin Tezha, followed 12 hours later by an aftershock of 6.5. Little is known about the effects of these events in the epicentral region, a sparsely inhabited area of the Afghan border, except that they caused some minor damage at Quetta. The shock was felt strongly at Quetta and in north-west Baluchistan.
The trace, probably of only a small segment, of a north-south trending discontinuous surface fault break was found in alluvium which could be followed for about 5 km south of Spin Tezha along the Chaman fault zone. It showed an average left-lateral displacement of about 4 cm, with minor dip-slip up to the west, consistent with the earthquake focal mechanism. Farah (1976) in Lawrence& Yeats (1979).
1997, February 27 Harnai-Quetta: The earthquake with magnitude Mb 6.2(Ms 7.3) occurred at 21:08 hours in Kirthar-Sulaiman shear zone near Harnai about 80 km East of Quetta, Balochistan. It occurred at a depth of 33 km as a result of thrust faulting. 57 people were killed, hundreds injured and more than 500 houses damaged or destroyed. Three (3) people died in Mastung and Quetta areas where the damage was less pronounced. The railway line between Shahrigh and Badra was damaged while near Harnai it was blocked b y rockfalls. Some damage was also reported from Mach, Duki and Sibi. The shock was felt throughout much of Balochistan, in eastern Sind and in south-west Punjab. On March 4 and 20 the earthquake was followed damaging aftershocks.
2008 October 29, Wednesday, Ziarat Earthquake (Balochistan, Pakistan)
Since this is the latest disaster that has struck Ziarat region in the last 12 hours (only hours after I had managed to finish 1935′s Quetta Earthquake article) and whose aftershocks are still being felt across the region, I shall therefore be writing about it separately. Please read the relevant post.
Earthquake risks in Quetta and surrounding regions by Din Mohammed Kakar
Finally, I do not want to sound very alarming and apocalyptical here but as a former geologist and the little information that I have about the geological make up of our region and the examples of earthquakes of the last one century that I have cited above, clearly suggest that tectonically speaking the region is active and that ‘The Big One’ could be in the making right now; it’s just a matter of time before we get struck again. The question may be asked, ‘when exactly in our region will they strike again? The answer is very simple: ‘we do not know’ because so far the earth scientists despite having made tremendous progress in earth sciences, in terms of equipment and knowledge, are still not well equipped enough to predict when will the next earthquake occur but, based on geological data, they can identify those regions where they may occur. And, like north and northwestern Pakistan, the northern, north-western, western and southern Balochistan are just some of those active zones! So the next ‘Big One’ could be today, tomorrow or perhaps in the next century or millennium! To be more specific we are living on the western most margin of the Indian plate which is subducting, or penetrating beneath the Eurasian plate, in other words Eurasian plate, from north, is overriding the Indian plate which is moving from the south at the speed of less than 5 cm/year. Thus, this gigantesque and a very slow collision has not only created the Himalayas and Karakorum mountain ranges but is still actively raising the Himalayas higher and higher.
The important thing to bear in mind is that we are living in a seismically active region which for the past many millions of years has been undergoing through the various phases of geological evolution; the processes were taking places even when the human beings were still not around. It was about 80 million years ago when Indian Plate got detached from Madagascar and embarked on or was rather forced to float northwards on a journey of a few thousand km (6,400) , at a rate of 9 m a century which it covered in millions of years!!! The first collision between the two plates of India and Eurasia took place between 40 and 50 million years ago (Figure 5) slowing down its northward advance by about half.
How will we cope if struck by a big one!
I am sure many people from Quetta and Harnai region still remember the night of February 27, 1997 when the whole region was violently shaken. People were not ready for such a shake-up wake-up call when the earth trembled. Horrified and fearful of another jolt they spent the rest of the night outside in the cold – shivering and quivering. But what was unfortunate and pitiful was the fact that despite living in a well documented seismic region which had experienced a few large earthquakes in the last few decades (e.g., 1931, 1935, 1955, and 1975) the Quetta residents were/are still unaware as to the real causes of why ‘crustal adjustment’ takes place and above all they were and are unprepared as to what precautions one must take to reduce/minimize risks to one’s life. Actually what happened that night was that when people became panicky and nervous some of them started firing into the air, with their Kalashnikovs, either to alert those who they thought might still have been sleeping or perhaps the panic was so overwhelming that they thought they could scare off the noisy bang that normally precedes powerful earthquakes; another wrong step which many people took was that they took out their vehicles and tried to seek refuge in the cantonment area which had been spared a total destruction in the May 1935 Quetta earthquake. Firing into the air and taking out ones vehicles were wrong moves as that made the already precarious situation more dreadful and chaotic. Keeping in mind the main shock in 1997 had not caused any major destruction in Quetta where the density of population was/is very high and since it’s the first few seconds that can turn the world upside down therefore the best thing to have done and to do during those few seconds was/is to run for one’s life towards a safer place, preferably open space, and wait there until the situation gets better before taking the next step. And, as far as rushing to the cantonment area is concerned then that will be a futile Exercise and a step in the wrong direction because the sole reason cantonment area got spared during 1935′s earthquake was that the shock waves were too weak to cause any further damage beyond Habib and Durrani Naala; the other possible explanation could be that the Naalas (the water courses) which are about three to four meters deep may have disrupted the continuity of the destructive surface or ‘s’ waves from advancing normally a bit more to the north-east beyond the two water-courses. Furthermore, the epicentre (the point on the surface above the point of rupture – the focus) was, as mentioned above, near the village of Ali Jaan 153 kilometers SSW of Quetta. Therefore as far as escaping of destruction of Quetta cantonment is concerned then that was the north-eastern most reaches where the power of the shockwaves had waned. What will we do if, God forbid, a powerful earthquake occurs in an area to the north of Quetta (e.g., Takatu mountain region where earthquakes of 1900 and that of 1955 occurred!) or to the northeast in the Sulaiman mountains (Sulaiman Fold Belt)?
The example that I have cited above clearly shows that we are way behind in dealing with a devastating earthquake. Another recent example is that of October 2005′s devastating earthquake of Balakot/Kashmir which brought to the surface our inability to deal efficiently with a major disaster!
As far as the Quetta region is concerned I can only hope the Provincial Disaster Management Authority will have a very thorough plan of action whereby all the worst case scenarios and difficulties will have been identified and discussed, and their solutions proposed. It is equally important to note that even to-date we do not know as to the exact number of those who perished in 1935′s earthquake. In the scattered literature the number of victims varies between 30 and 60 thousands. The reason for these discrepancies could be explained by the fact that at the time of the earthquake the exact population of Quetta was not known and as the time went by many bodies got decomposed and disintegrated to the extent that they escaped the list for the final toll. Official figures for the loss of life in the earthquake were no more than estimates. For example, in Quetta about 26,000 people were killed, of which a few thousand bodies were left buried in the ruins of the town. Outside Quetta numbers were even more uncertain, particularly in the Kalat tribal area where more than 8,410 deaths were recorded. Various reports put the total death toll to 35,000 people but in the absence of reliable figures it’s difficult to confirm those figures. Please note that was then in 1935! The irony is that 73 years on in 2008, we still do not know the exact or near-exact population of Quetta. People we encounter in the streets of Quetta are mainly men, who, the unpublished statistics suggest are outnumbered by womenfolk that stay indoors. So by taking into consideration the number of male heads on the Quetta streets one can only guess the population to be well above one million. Therefore in the event of a ‘Big One’, the big ‘Question’ that we should be concerned about is how many deaths and missing persons will remain unreported? And to what extent lack of this crucial knowledge will impede our planning and implementation of rescue and reconstruction plans?
Or, we do nothing and in the wake of a ‘Big One’ keep our eyes shut to the sufferings of our fellow humans who under the present socio-economic and socio-political climate of Pakistan are already having a very hard time. Our present mindset falsely dictates us that the current wave of crimes and other acts of violence are not going to affect ‘Me’ and ‘My family’ and that only others are destined to be their victims! Unless and until we change our this mindset of false sense of security, we cannot hope to have a better and secure future
Conclusion
The geological data and a few destructive earthquakes of the recent past in the region show that Quetta valley and its surrounding areas lie in the active seismic zone. Given that the earthquakes cannot be predicted but, based on geological data, only regions prone to earthquake can be identified, it is therefore imperative we have a robust and a well-thought-of-plan to manage efficiently the rescue operations in the wake of a devastating earthquake. Equally, in order to reduce fatalities the authorities should enforce ‘sans merci’ the implementation of building code by-laws that were written down and approved by the Quetta Municipality in the aftermath of 1935 Quetta earthquake! The illegal non-stop construction of three and four story buildings which are now making their way out from the commercial hub of Quetta city into the residential areas point towards the failure and unwillingness of the concerned authorities in implementing those by-laws which if implemented strictly would reduce loss of life and unnecessary material damage.
Lastly, any awareness raising campaign that does not discuss and take into account corruption seriously would be just a PR and a futile Exercise because corruption causes social-quakes with the long lasting effects; unlike natural earthquakes its victims are not localized. Today each and every one of us is being hit and hurt by the powerful aftershocks of the last sixty years’ corruption which initially had weaker and imperceptible foreshocks but were not registered by the seismographs of corrupt officials. Honestly speaking, social earthquakes have made more victims over the last 60 years than the natural ones!
Do nothing, nothing will change; do something and something will change’
Quetta earthquake has been well documented
Detailed information survives for the Quetta earthquake, (Situation Reports 31.05-13.08.1935, Files no. 1 to 73 in the Archives of the Government of India Bureau in Simla), as well as from West (1936), Jackson (1960), Skrine (1936), and Piney (1938) and many more. However in writing this article I had the opportunity to consult the following:
References:
Ambraseys, N. & Bilhams, R., 2003. Earthquakes and associated deformation in northern Balochistan 1892-2001, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am.
Bender, F. K & Raza, H. A., 1995. Geology of Pakistan. Publisher: Gerbruder Borntraeger, Berlin. Germany. Pages: 414.
Farah, A. & DeJong, K. A. (Editors), 1079. Geodynamics of Pakistan
Gazetteer of Balochistan (Quetta – Pishin). 1906. Published for the Govt. of Balochistan. Printers: Gosha-e-Adab, Quetta. Pages 400.
Jackson, R., 1960. Thirty seconds at Quetta. Publishers: Evans Brothers Limited, London. Pages: 248
Lawrence, R.D., Khan, S. H. and Tanaka, T., 1992. Chaman fault, Pakistan-Afghanistan, in Major Active Faults of the World, Results of IGCP project 206, R. Buckhan and P. Hancock (Editor), Annales Tect. 6P. 196-223. (supp.),
Quetta earthquake (The), 1935. Originally published by the Govt. of India Press Simla 1935 and reprinted by Pagoda Tree Press in 2001. Pages 26.
Shah, I., (Editor), 1977. Stratigraphy of Pakistan, G.S.P., Quetta. Pages: 138
Yeats, R., Sieh, K. and Allen, C., 1997. The Geology of Earthquakes, Oxford Univ. Press, New York.
What Others Say About Quetta Earthquake
The Great Earthquake of 1935
1st Queen’s at Quetta – The Earthquake
Wikipedia
Quetta, City of Sorrow
Mr Butler (The Under-Secretary of State for India) responding to a question regarding the Quetta Earthquake …
General Karslake and the Quetta earthquake of 1935
You can also view historical pictures of Quetta by clicking here; a few of them don’t belong to Quetta.
