Portal:Disasters/Selected anniversary/October 2007
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The Kashmir earthquake (also known as the South Asia earthquake or the Great Pakistan earthquake) of 2005, was a major earthquake, of which the epicentre was the Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The earthquake occurred at 08:50:38 Pakistan Standard Time (03:50:38 UTC) on 8 October 2005. It registered 7.6 on the richter scale making it a major earthquake similar in intensity to the 1935 Quetta earthquake, the 2001 Gujarat earthquake, and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. As of 8 November, the Pakistani government's official death toll was 73,276, while officials say nearly 1,400 people died in Jammu and Kashmir and fourteen people in Afghanistan.
The epicenter at , about 19 km (11.8 miles) northeast of Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, and 100 km (65 miles) north-northeast of the national capital Islamabad. The earthquake is classified as "major" by the USGS. The hypocenter was located at a depth of 26 km (16.2 miles) below the surface. The Japan Meteorological Agency estimated its magnitude at a minimum of 7.8. By comparison, the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake had a magnitude of 9.15. The earthquake caused widespread destruction in northern Pakistan, as well as damage in Afghanistan and northern India. The worst hit areas were Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), western and southern parts of the Kashmir valley in the Indian Kashmir. It also affected some parts of the Pakistani province of Punjab, the capital city of Islamabad, and the city of Karachi experienced a minor aftershock of magnitude 4.6. There have been many secondary earthquakes in the region, mainly to the northwest of the original epicenter. A total of 147 aftershocks were registered in the first day after the initial quake, of which one had a magnitude of 6.2. Twenty-eight of these aftershocks occurred with magnitudes greater. On October 19, a series of strong aftershocks, one with a magnitude of 5.8, occurred about 65 km (40.5 miles) north-northwest of Muzaffarabad. There have been more than 978 aftershocks with a magnitude of 4.0 and above, as of 27 October 2005 that continue to occur daily.
