Earthquake horror

Eighteen years ago, on October 8, Pakistan faced a natural disaster in the form of a terrible earthquake that shook many parts of the country, including Muzaffarabad, Bagh, Balakot, and various surrounding areas.

As a result of this earthquake, countless villages were affected and around 87,000 people lost their lives. Similarly, numerous houses, roads, hospitals, buildings, education institutions, and infrastructure were severely damaged. Although almost two decades have passed since the earthquake, victims of this tragedy are still facing severe psychological and mental issues.

Now, once again, people are in the grip of severe fear and panic. For the past few days, people living in different parts of the country, especially Quetta, Chaman, and adjacent areas, have been sleeping outside on roads and grounds at night.

The reason for this is the survey made by the Solar System Geometry Survey (SSGS) of the Netherlands that predicts that a severe earthquake is expected in the Chaman fault line in Balochistan.

In the past, their prediction about the terrible earthquake in Turkiye was proved correct due to which the latest prediction about Pakistan is being taken seriously by people. The threat of a possible earthquake has become a top trend on social media. Experts believe that in areas where a large earthquake occurred in the past, there are fears that those areas will witness another large earthquake.

Although the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has clarified that it is not possible to determine the exact time of an earthquake and there is no need for people to panic, the horrific memories of the October 2005 earthquake are still fresh in the minds of people.

Undoubtedly, nothing has ever been so terrible for a person than an earthquake. In ancient times, earthquakes were attributed to the wrath of God, and the holy books mention disobedient nations that were destroyed through earthquakes.

However, in modern times, scientists have come to the conclusion that the inner plate of the earth consists of layers of soil, stones and rocks. Due to some geological pressure, it breaks or moves from its place, generating invisible waves on the surface of the earth, which move around in the form of a circle. Most of the damage is due to the collapse of buildings that cannot withstand the earthquake waves and the subsequent lack of timely rescue activities.

Pakistan is considered to be one of the most sensitive countries in the world, two-thirds of which is located on fault lines. According to experts, territories from Karachi to Islamabad, Quetta to Peshawar, Makran to Abbottabad, and Gilgit to Chitral are under the influence of earthquakes, and Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan are considered the most sensitive ones.

In my view, earthquakes actually convey a message that humans, despite so much technological progress, are powerless before God Almighty. Similarly, my stance is very clear by the fact that in modern times, despite all scientific advancements, there is no technology available that can determine the accurate place and timing of an earthquake to occur.

Even in ancient times, people tried their best and used many tricks to determine the exact time of such earthquakes, and today modern scientists are also making a lot of efforts to somehow discover the correct methodology of predicting earthquakes but no success so far.

Today, I would like to give a message to all people who are afraid of earthquake threats in Pakistan that they should have firm faith in God’s mercy to protect everyone.

They must not listen to any information that will cause more uncertainty and chaos in our society. Only God Almighty knows when and where the earthquake will occur.

The writer is a former member of the

National Assembly and patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council.

He tweets/posts @RVankwani