The 7.5 magnitude earthquake that jolted the entire country Monday afternoon reawakened the intimidating memories of the 2005 earthquake in people’s minds.
In the quake that hit the country in the month of October a decade ago, more than 80,000 people were reported dead and nearly 2.8 million displaced.
Around 02:09pm Monday when strong tremors shook Lahore, panic gripped the citizens who started reciting Quranic verses seeking mercy from Allah Almighty.
Cracks emerged in many old buildings and structures, especially those dilapidated, including the provincial headquarters of the Election Commission of Pakistan and Aiwan-e-Adal. There were no injuries, fortunately.
Ihsanullah from Johar Town said his neighbors came out of their houses and started to recite ‘Kalma’ and Quranic verses in a sheer state of fear. He said he felt that no process of science was responsible for earthquakes as these were “our deeds that were the reason behind such disasters”.
Muhammad Hanif, who works in the Capital City Police Office (CCPO), said he was sitting in his office when suddenly he felt the earth shaking under his feet. He added that as all the doors and windows were vibrating, the people present there started reciting Quranic verses loudly.
Ghulam Abbas, a beggar who was sitting near Qartaba Chowk at the time of the earthquake, opined that these catastrophes were in response to the sins and bad deeds of “our rulers”.
Zaheer Ali, who came from Mandi Bahauddin to Lahore’s Ganga Ram Hospital where his mother was operated upon the other day, said that when the earthquake hit, all the patients, their attendants and hospital staff hurried to evacuate the building in fear. “I myself got my ailing mother out because it involved risk staying inside the building, keeping in view its old age,” added Zaheer who was reciting ‘Kalma’ at the time of tremors.
Another attendant of a patient, Muhammad Shehzad, told Pakistan Today that the basement of the Emergency Ward, where he had been sitting, was empty within a few minutes after the tremors jolted the hospital building.
Ghulam Zehra, a female staff member, said she started to recite “Ya Ali Madad” just to forget the frightening state of tremors. She said everyone tried to go in the open to avoid any untoward happening.
Asghar Khan, a rickshaw driver who was near Garhi Shahu at the time of the earthquake, said these earthquakes and natural disasters were the results of “our misdeeds”.
“Everyone should repent and must offer prayers five times a day to avoid these calamities,” Khan added.
Nadeem Malik, who was passing through Ichhra Bridge when he felt tremors, said that electricity poles seemed to be dangling in the air and even the track of Metro bus was shaking, forcing everyone to remember God.
