KARACHI: Expressing heartfelt condolences on massive loss of life in Turkish earthquake, Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Altaf Shakoor here Monday said this earthquake is also a wake-up call for the countries on seismic zones like Pakistan.
He said Pakistan is situated in one of the highest seismic zones of the world, with the 1935 Quetta earthquake and the 2005 Kashmir earthquake as the most devastating earthquakes in the country. He said our megacity Karachi is also prone to earthquake threat. He said though Karachi has experienced no earthquake related damage in the recorded history of past ~ 175 years. Yet, Karachi is located in a seismically active tectonic setting often compared to Los Angeles with active plate boundary faults and triple junctions within a radius of ~ 150 km.
He regretted that there is no proper building code in Karachi as well as other major countries of Pakistan. He said the majority of buildings in Karachi are too weak to sustain even a minor shock of earthquake. He said rescue and healthcare support facilities in megacity Karachi are inadequate to cope with any natural disaster. He demanded of the federal and provincial governments to take the earthquake in Turkey a serious wakeup call and put in place the required facilities in all major cities, particularly the megacity of Karachi.
Meanwhile, in a letter to
Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, the President of Turkey, Altaf Shakoor, on behalf of his party and Pakistani people expressed heartfelt condolence with the government and people of Turkey on heavy loss of precious life in devastating earthquake in their country.
“The hearts of Pakistanis always beat with the heart of our Turkish brethren. At this trying time all our sympathies and prayers are for our brothers and sisters in Turkey. We pray for the departed souls and early recovery of the injured.
“We believe that under your able leadership, the great Turkish nation would soon recover from the shock of this major human tragedy.
