On May 31st 1935 @ abt 03:03 hrs #Quetta was struck by a devastating earthquake of 7.7, killing between 30 to 60 thousand people. Earthquake’s epicenter was 4.0 kms southwest of the village of Ali Jaan or 153 kilometers SSW of Quetta or 440 kms NNW of Karachi 1/

In a split second most of the houses were flattened & majority of their occupants buried; those who survived were crying & shouting for help. All communications inside Quetta were down; the city was completely cut off from the rest of the world 2/

The railway & road communications,including the section through the Bolan Pass were badly damaged; station at Spezand was still intact.Area of destruction was confined to a narrow zone,in the north extending 4rm Baleli & Qta 2 the s-westerly direction into Brahui/Harboi hills 3/

The cantonment area, to the north, was spared a total destruction as the shockwaves had become weaker beyond the Habib Naala. Quetta city had been completely destroyed, about 15000 people alone were said to have been killed here. 4/

The Police Lines,the Durbar Hall,Post Office,Telegraph Office,the Civil & Mission Hospitals,the Club & the railway quarters were ruined. The Quetta Police had suffered the heaviest of losses and had ceased to exist as a force. 5/

In fact there was no civilian administrative machinery left to run the rescue operations after the destructive earthquake; scores of villages in Quetta subdivision and Kalat State were totally destroyed, with 70% of population either dead or injured. 6/

In Kalat State, 2,900 were killed and 5,000 injured out of a population of 10,000. Kalat town itself was ruined. Ground deformation extended for 105 kms frm the south side of the Chiltan range to Kalat,which was mostly in the form of 2-20 cm cracks 7/

The EQ was associated with a Zone of faults that run along eastern edge of the #Chiltan range extending southwards towards Mastung, Kalat. No foreshocks were reported before the earthquake, but a bright orange glow was seen over Quetta to the west & further south,near Kalat 8/

The main shock on the morning of 31st May was followed by a long sequence of relatively small #magnitude #earthquakes. But it was on June the 2nd at 2:50 pm when another severe shock (M=6.0) occurred. 9/

The #earthquake was felt over very large area in & beyond present-day #Pakistan to the east in #Amritsar, #Shimla & as far as #Sultanpur & #Agra. In south-eastern #Afghanistan at #Kandahar and Spin Boldak damage to dilapidated rural houses was reported. 10/

With the day break at 6 am, within three hours of the earthquake a Relief Headquarters was set up on the lawn of the ruined #Quetta Club. General #Karslake was leading the rescue operations. He divided up the devastated area into 8 zones and assigned them to his troops 11/

The primary concern of the military authorities in #Quetta was then how to coordinate all extraneous measures for relief and assistance. In order to protect buried property and prevent the unauthorized person from coming into the ruined city, a Martial Law was declared 12/

City was cordoned off by a double apron barbed wire fence and was guarded day and night by military and police. The military authorities assumed responsibilities for all evacuations & all available military ambulance trains were put into commission 13/

On the Race Course and Polo grounds a Refugee Camp was set up and managed by officers from the Staff College. Muslims, Hindus and Anglo-Indians were assigned separate sites where they had places for cooking, latrines, hospitals and ration stands 14/ #Quetta_Earthquake_May1935

Special trains were run to evacuate Indian refugees and wounded, and families of British troops to Karachi. Arrangements were also made to evacuate 5000 people to their homes in India; they were wives and children of Indian and Gurkha troops 15/

Casualty Bureau was set up at Army Headquarters where from the available information lists of civil & military casualties were prepared. The medical profession came under extreme pressure to provide medical help. Doctors, nurses, staffs & volunteers worked round the clock. 16/

Since the Civil & Military hospitals had been destroyed the injured were treated on the verandahs and in the tents. It was estimated that during the earthquake period from 31st May until 14th June,between 20,000 & 25,000 patients received medical treatment 17/ #Quetta #Earthquake

Outside of #Quetta, doctors visited the villages and with the help of troops the seriously injured were evacuated to the hospitals. #Sanitation, in particular the provision of ‘safe’ #water and the disposal of animal corpses, was dealt with on priority basis. 18/

On June the 2nd seven days’ rations were issued to the inhabitants of the destroyed villages. Dead bodies were piled on carts and taken to the Muslim burial grounds and to the Hindu burning ‘ghats’. 19/

Interesting to note that during the first 36 hrs every living person was rescued, often posing serious risk to the lives of the rescuers. On June the 3rd with the personal donation of Rs. 5000 the Viceroy launched an appeal to help the victims of the #earthquake 20/

Govt of #India donated Rs.10 lakhs; British government gave £ 50,000.00; a subscription list was also opened by the Lord Mayor of #London. Other nations also made some donations.Australia contributed £ 10,000.00.Viceroy’s fund was spent 2 deal with matters of immediate relief 21/

Special measures were taken to ensure the continuity of those children’s education who wer financially in difficult situation after the EQ. On July the 30th a law called ‘The #Quetta Distribution of Salved Property Law, 1935′ was promulgated. 22/

A well organized 2,000 men strong ‘Labour Corps’ mainly comprising local inhabitants of Quetta was formed who cleared street debris/rubble. By 1st August, Anderson Road,Bruce Road, the Habib Naala,Suraj Gunj Bazaar, Mission Road,Kassi Road and Barnes Road had been cleared. 23/

The closing tweet, thank you for your patience :-)

By the 12th August Yate Road, Haroon Road and Masjid Road had been cleared. It was after August 12 that the restoration of salvaged property to its owners by the Claims Commissioner started. 24/24