Climate change increases the risk of earthquakes and other natural disasters many fold. Aftershocks in Azad Kashmir are proceeding and shaking tremors are felt in different areas. While women and children took refuge in local parks.
According to the district administration Mirpur, the earthquake caused the road infrastructure to be completely inflamed while the main highway and several bridges along the Mangla earth were lost. On the other hand, the number of people killed in the earthquake was 46 while 450 injured are under treatment in different areas, of which dozens are said to be in critical condition.
Severe earthquake has disrupted communication system in various cities of Punjab and Khabar Pakhtunkhwa including Azad Kashmir and power supply has been suspended in several areas of Azad Kashmir since yesterday afternoon.
According to the Disaster management authority,Pakistan, the magnitude earthquake at 4 pm on Tuesday afternoon was 5.8 and its depth was 10 km, and its center was 22.53 km north of Jhelum, the border between Azad Kashmir and Punjab. Chief Meteorologist Mohammad Riaz said the quake affected some areas of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while most of the damage was done in Mirpur Azad Kashmir where the communication system was disrupted.
On the other hand, the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) stopped power generation from the country's largest dam in the earthquake, but was restored to ensure the dam was safe. After the power generation was restored in Mangla, again 700 MW power has been resumed to the National Grid which has eliminated the risk of long load shedding. According to the report, the irrigation department had closed the upper canal of the Jhelum River under the preventive measures to avoid damage to the aftershock. ” The turbines had no choice but to stop.
Spokeswoman Wapda said all the turbines were closed under security measures, which were restored to the Mangla Dam and to the power station without any knowledge of the damage. If the flow of water is high at Mangla station, there is a capacity to generate 1000 MW of electricity, while in winter, the capacity is limited to 196 MW. In addition, Pakistan Railways has also been advised to keep the speed of the train going through Jhelum, Dina and Khariya. Railway officials said that teams have been deployed to review the mainline, especially Lahore and Rawalpindi.