Qualla: 2013 Balochistan Earthquakes

2013 Balochistan Earthquakes: Introduction

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. The morning after the earthquake, fishermen off the coast of Gwadar noticed something that should not have existed: an island. Roughly 150 meters long and 18 meters high, it sat in the Arabian Sea belching flammable methane gas from cracks in its muddy surface. Visitors who walked its oval perimeter the next day could light the escaping gas with a match. The 2013 Balochistan earthquake had done what earthquakes occasionally do in this part of the world -- shoved the seabed upward through sheer tectonic violence.

Image: Mikenorton | CC BY-SA 3.0

2013 Balochistan Earthquakes: Where Three Plates Collide

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. The earthquake struck on September 24 with a moment magnitude of 7.8 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX -- classified as 'Violent.' Its epicenter lay in Awaran District, a sparsely populated region of southern Pakistan where the Arabian, Eurasian, and Indian tectonic plates c...

Image: Mikenorton | CC BY-SA 3.0

2013 Balochistan Earthquakes: Zalzala Jazeera -- The Earthquake Island

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. The island that appeared off Gwadar was a mud volcano, formed when methane gas trapped beneath the seabed was released by the quake's energy and pushed overlying sediment upward. Scientists from the Pakistan National Institute of Oceanography confirmed methane emissions from the ...

Image: Mikenorton | CC BY-SA 3.0

2013 Balochistan Earthquakes: Mud Brick and Rubble

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. At least 825 people died and 619 were injured. The earthquake affected approximately 300,000 people across the districts of Awaran, Kech, Gwadar, Panjgur, Chaghi, and Khuzdar. Most homes in the region were built with mud bricks, materials that offer almost no resistance to seismi...

Image: Mikenorton | CC BY-SA 3.0

2013 Balochistan Earthquakes: Relief Under Fire

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Carport, CC BY-SA 3.0. The relief effort was crippled by the very conflict that had long defined Balochistan. The national army dispatched over 200 medical personnel and 1,000 soldiers, but Balochi separatists attacked military convoys carrying supplies. Two rockets were fired at a helicopter transport...

Image: Carport | CC BY-SA 3.0