The Great Quetta Earthquake 31st May 1935

The Great Quetta Earthquake 31st May 1935

Quetta is the capital of Baluchistan province. At 5500 feet above sea level it is one of the most important military locations in Pakistan. The borders of Iran and Afghanistan meet here and the Bolan Pass forms an important venue of communication in this region.

Before the massive earthquake of 31 May 1935, Quetta was a bustling city, with multi-storied buildings. It was almost completely destroyed in this great earthquake and was razed to the ground in the small hours of the morning of that fateful day, when about 30,000 to 40,000 souls perished within a few minutes. After the great disaster, Quetta houses were generally rebuilt as

single level dwellings.

The name Quetta is derived from kwatta, meaning fort in Pushto (the regional language). Imposing hills on all sides surround Quetta. These include Chiltan, Takatoo, Mordar and Zarghun.

Quetta was first mentioned in the 11^th century when Mahmud of Ghazni captured it on one of his invasions of the subcontinent.The Moguls ruled Quetta until 1556, when the Persians took it, only to be retaken by Akbar in 1595.The first westerner to visit Quetta, in 1828, described it as a mud-walled fort surrounded by 300 mud houses.Although occupied briefly by the British during the First Afghan War in 1839, it was not until 1876 that Quetta came under permanent British control and Robert Sandeman was made political agent in Baluchistan.Quetta, was one of the largest cantonments in British India, with a garrison of about 12000 troops. At 3.03 am on 31^st May 1935 the city was devastated by a severe earthquake, lasting about thirty seconds, followed by many aftershocks.On the night of the earthquake the nearest major unit was the 2^nd Divisional Signals, of the Indian Signal Corps, quartered about four miles from the city.The unit, under its CO Lt. Col. W.T Howe. immediately turned out and formed two relief columns, proceeding to the city, and commencing rescue operations.

The road into the city was cleared of rubble. ambulance convoys were organised for transporting the injured to dressing stations, and with civilian guides small parties of soldiers were despatched to aid in digging out victims lying under the ruins of their homes.It soon became apparent that the civilian Posts and Telegraph centre was severely damaged, and the city cut off from the outside world. The GOC Quetta District ordered Lt. Col. Howe to withdraw his men from the rescue work, and concentrate on restoring communications.A signal office was established on the lawns of the Quetta Club, and wireless communications were established with Western Command and Army HQ. The P & T staff (who had suffered many casualties were assisted with the repair of telephone lines and restoring circuits to Karachi).During the afternoon the GOC spoke on a telephone circuit to the London Evening News for about twenty-five minutes.

At the end of his call to London, he put down the instrument and asked Lt. Col. Howe over. “It puzzles me, Bill,” he said with a straight face, “you fix up a line all the way to London and I can hear the fellow at the other end as clearly as I can hear you now. But on a divisional exercise you lay me a line to a spot two fields away and I am damned if I can hear a thing!”By the 10^th June it was possible to close the military exchanges and revert to the civil telephone system. Total deaths in the city and surrounding villages were later estimated at 30,000. The Pakistan Information web site gives a figure of 40,000. The scale of the earthquake was recorded as 7.5 on the Richter scale.After the initial emergency was over the Commander-in-Chief wrote to the Signal Officer-in-Chief as follows: “The work of the Signal Corps in this emergency has been altogether admirable. Without it, I scarcely like to think what might have happened. All soldiers responded to the call, but it was Signals who enabled the work to be co-ordinated and effective. Please tell them how much I admire their work”.

After the great disaster, Quetta houses were generally rebuilt as single level dwellings. In what became the first building codes for earthquake zones the houses were built with bricks and reinforced concrete. The structures are generally of lighter materials than those that were destroyed in the great earthquake.