اردو
  • 13 years on, victims of October 8 earthquake remembered

    13 years on, victims of October 8 earthquake remembered File Photo 13 years on, victims of October 8 earthquake remembered

    The 13th memorial of the devastating October 8, 2005 earthquake, which left nearly 100,000 people killed and hundreds of thousands homeless besides destroying the basic infrastructure, is being observed across the country, including Azad Kashmir and adjoining areas, today (Monday).

    A memorial was held at Muzaffargarh university’s ground and a minute of silence was observed at 8:52am in remembrance of martyrs of the quake.

    Special prayers were also offered in mosques in Bagh District at Fajr for the departed souls.

    In Balakot, shops and business centres are closed in remembrance of the martyrs and special prayers are being offered.

    The earthquake left a trail of death and destruction, primarily in Azad Kashmir and Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

    The 7.6 Richter-scale quake had killed more than 90,000 people and dislocated over 3.5 million.

    Most of the victims were from poor families living in small and dilapidated houses and buildings. Old mud houses caved in when the earthquake struck. Broken walls or collapsed roofs were reported from numerous villages in most of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.