Pak Army troops in earthquake-hit areas on COAS orders, damage assessment complete

RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan Army's aviation helicopters have completed aerial survey, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a press release issued late Tuesday, after Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa directed troops to participate in rescue activities due to the earthquake in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and other affected areas

The Army's helicopters "have completed aerial survey for damage assessment in Mirpur, Jarikas and Jatlan areas", the statement read. "Army teams have reached in earthquake hit areas of Mirpur, Jatlan and Jarikas."

The ISPR further said that rescue efforts in the earthquake-affected areas had been initiated.

According to Major General Asif Ghafoor, the director-general of the ISPR, the army chief had directed army personnel to completely cooperate with the civil administration of AJK.

The DG ISPR said that Pakistan army’s aviation and medical teams have been dispatched to AJK and other earthquake-hit areas. 

Earlier, a powerful earthquake jolted several parts of Pakistan, particularly areas of AJK, Punjab, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In today's earthquake, 26 people were reported dead, while more than 300 were wounded in Mirpur and other areas of AJK.

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck at a shallow depth of 10 kilometers with its epicenter lying 1km southeast of Mirpur, Azad Jammu and Kashmir.