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31 May 1935: Quetta ka zalzala

Atemad E-Magazine 16 October 2026 · 8 minute ka mutalia

Tareekh ke Auraq: Yeh tehreer Roznama Atemad ke ijra (October 1970) se pehle ke ek din ki kahani hai, jo dastiyab tareekhi maakhaz se murattab ki gayi hai.

Jumma, 31 May 1935. Raat ke teen bajey ke qareeb Quetta gehri neend mein hai. Phir zameen hilti hai. Aalmi zalzala markaz (ISC-GEM) ke catalogue mein is jhatke ka waqt 30 May raat 21 baj kar 32 minute 57 second aalmi miyari waqt darj hai, jo us waqt British India ke miyari waqt ke mutabiq 31 May ki subah taqriban teen baj kar teen minute banta hai. Baad ke likhne walon ne ise aaj ke Pakistani waqt mein 2 baj kar 33 minute likha hai, aur Quetta mein maujood British regiment "First Queens" ki tareekh 3 baj kar 40 minute batati hai. Waqt par maakhaz mukhtalif hain, nateejey par nahin: chand lamhon mein Quetta ka civil shehar malbe ka dhair ban gaya.

Zameen ke neeche kya hua

ISC-GEM catalogue is zalzale ki shiddat (moment magnitude) 7.6 aur gehrai 25 kilometre batata hai, aur markaz Kalat se 17 kilometre junoob maghrib mein rakhta hai. Aalmi zalzala markaz ki apni paimaish sathi lehron par 7.5 hai. Mahireen-e-zalzala Ambraseys aur Bilham ne 2003 mein shumali Balochistan ke zalzalon ke jaizey mein ise 7.7 shiddat ka "bayen jaanib phisalne wala" (left-lateral) zalzala qarar diya, jo 1931 ke Mach ke zalzale ke chaar baras baad isi patti par aaya.

Shehar, Mastung aur Kalat

Dawn ke ek tehqeeqi mazmoon (2005) ke mutabiq Quetta ki Civil Lines mukammal tabah hueen: Police Lines, Durbar Hall, Civil aur Mission hospital aur club sab gir gaye. Chhaoni mein nuqsan kam tha aur Civil Lines se mutasil ek kilometre chaudi patti tak mehdood raha. Shimla se 2 June ko jari hone wale sarkari ailamiye mein, jise First Queens Regiment ki tareekh ne naqal kiya hai, kaha gaya ke poora shehar tabah ho gaya hai, chhaoni ka chauthai hissa gir gaya hai aur Royal Air Force ke 27 tayyaron mein se sirf 6 kaam ke reh gaye hain.

Tabahi Quetta tak mehdood na thi. Dawn ke mazmoon ke mutabiq Mastung zameen bos ho gaya, Khan ka mahal bhi; Kalat ka bara hissa gira; Quetta aur Kalat ke darmiyan qareeb sau dehat tabah hue. 2 June ko 5.8 shiddat ka bara baad ka jhatka aaya jis ne Quetta ko to nahin magar Mastung, Mughal Chhar aur Kalat ko mazeed nuqsan pohnchaya.

Kitne log mare?

Koi ek hatmi sarkari adad aaj tak muttafiqa nahin. 2 June 1935 ke sarkari ailamiye ka andaza tha ke 20 hazar lashein malbe ke neeche hain aur qareeb 10 hazar Hindustani bashindey zinda bachey hain jin mein 4 hazar zakhmi hain. Dawn (2005) ne majmui halakatein qareeb 35 hazar likhein, jin mein Quetta aur gird-o-nawah mein 26 hazar tak, Mastung mein 1,736, Sariab mein 1,206, Kalat shehar mein 120, aur riyasat-e-Kalat mein 2,900 halak aur 5 hazar zakhmi. Engineering ki kitab (Bangash, 2011) 30 se 60 hazar ka daira deti hai; mahir-e-tareekh Daniel Haines qareeb 30 hazar likhte hain; Bharati mahir-e-zalzala engineering Sudhir Jain qareeb 20 hazar. 2005 ke Kashmir ke zalzale tak yeh Junoobi Asia ka sab se zyada jaan leva zalzala raha.

Fauj ka kaam

Quetta ek fauji chhaoni tha, aur yehi us ki bari madad bani. First Queens battalion raat bhar ki mashq se wapas aa rahi thi; subah sarhe chhe bajey barracks tak pohnchi aur har dastiyab sipahi shehar mein bhej diya gaya. Pehle din ghar ghar talash, zakhmiyon ko hospital, aur qabrein khodna; doosrey din zinda bach jane walon ki talash; teesrey din unhein Race Course ke camp mein muntaqili. 3 June ko shehar fauji ghere mein seal kar diya gaya, martial law laga, aur loot mar karne walon ko dekhte hi goli marne ka hukm tha. Rail ki akloti line se inkhla shuru hua; 12 June tak tamam British khawateen aur bachey, hazaron be-ghar aur das hazar se zaid zakhmi shehar se nikal liye gaye thay. British Film Institute ke paas is inkhla ki khamosh film mehfooz hai: trainon mein bharey log aur shehar ke kinarey khaimon ka shehar. Bahaduri par faujiyon ko aath Albert Medal aur nau Empire Gallantry Medal diye gaye.

Duniya mein is din

Hollywood: Isi din America mein Twentieth Century Pictures aur Fox Film ke inzimam se "Twentieth Century Fox" wujood mein aaya.
America mein sailab: Colorado, Nebraska aur Wyoming mein sailab se kam az kam 28 afraad halak hue.
Ek din pehle: 30 May ko baseball ke legend Babe Ruth ne apna aakhri match khela.

Aage kya hua

2 June 1935: 5.8 shiddat ka baad ka jhatka; Mastung aur Kalat mein mazeed nuqsan.
December 1935: Hukumat ne faisla kiya ke Quetta isi jagah, zalzala bardasht karne wali bunyadon par dobara tameer hoga; lagat ka ibtidai andaza 60 lakh pound.
1936: Geological Survey of India ke W. D. West ki ibtidai report shaya hui. Fauj aur Public Works Department ne mil kar malba hataya; is kaam ke liye ek chhoti rail line 15 March 1936 se chali. Safai 1937 mein mukammal hui.
1937 ta 1940: Naye shehar ke liye imarati zabita bana. Hukumat-e-Hind ne 1940 mein "Kam unchai ki imaraton ka zalzala muzahim design" ke naam se zabita aur tashreeh shaya ki: 0.125g ka zalzala gutank, aur eenton ki deewaron mein plinth, lintel aur chhat ki sath par concrete ki pattiyan. Geological Survey ne 1939 mein likha ke Quetta ne shumali Hindustan ke liye imarati zabitey ki amali misaal qaim ki hai.
29 September 1941: Ek aur zalzale ne nayi tameeraat ko azmaya; engineer M. C. Mair ki report ke mutabiq woh kamyab rahin.
2023: Quetta Metropolitan Corporation ne 1935 ke baad pehli baar, 1937 ke Building Code Act mein tarmeem kar ke, mashroot tor par buland imaraton ki ijazat di.

Kya aap ke buzurgon ke paas 1935 ke zalzale ki koi tasveer, khat ya yaddasht mehfooz hai? Hamein zaroor bhejein. Hum ise aap ke naam ke sath is safhe par shamil karenge.

Maakhaz

ISC-GEM Global Instrumental Earthquake Catalogue, event 904311 (origin 1935-05-30 21:32:57 UTC, Mw 7.6, depth 25 km, 17 km WSW of Kalat), via USGS ComCat. https://earthquake.usgs.gov/fdsnws/event/1/query?eventid=iscgem904311&format=geojson
International Seismological Centre, event 904311 bibliography (Ms 7.5; lists Roy 1935, Singh & Gupta 1980, Ambraseys & Bilham 2003 and others). https://www.isc.ac.uk/cgi-bin/FormatBibprint.pl?evid=904311
N. Ambraseys and R. Bilham, "Earthquakes and Associated Deformation in Northern Baluchistan 1892–2001", Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, vol. 93, no. 4, 2003, pp. 1573–1605 (abstract: M 7.7 left-lateral Quetta earthquake). https://www.seismosoc.org/Publications/BSSA_html/bssa_93-4/02038.html
W. D. West, "Preliminary Geological Report on the Baluchistan (Quetta) Earthquake of May 31st, 1935", Records of the Geological Survey of India, vol. 69, 1936, pp. 203–241 (listed, with Google Books link, at FIBIS wiki "Earthquakes in India"). https://wiki.fibis.org/w/Earthquakes_in_India
Dawn, "The great Quetta tragedy" (Lahori's Notebook), 25 October 2005 (time, fault, district death figures, destruction of civil lines, Mastung and Kalat, military role). https://www.dawn.com/news/1068419/dawn-features-october-25-2005
Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment Association, "1st Queen's at Quetta: The Earthquake" (regimental account; Government of India communique of 2 June 1935; cordon of 3 June; evacuation by 12 June). https://queensroyalsurreys.org.uk/regimental-india/1st-queens-at-quetta.html
"1935 Quetta earthquake", Wikipedia (Bangash 2011 range 30,000–60,000; aftershock of 2 June; gallantry awards; deadliest in South Asia until 2005). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1935_Quetta_earthquake
G. Pararas-Carayannis, "The Earthquake of May 30, 1935 in Quetta, Balochistan" (district figures citing Ramanathan & Mukherji 1938 and Pinhey 1938). https://www.drgeorgepc.com/Earthquake1935PakistanQuetta.html
Daniel Haines, "Thirty seconds at Quetta: Time and disaster on the North-West Frontier, 1935", seminar abstract, Modern South Asian Studies Seminar, University of Oxford, 16 January 2024 (c. 30,000 killed; as many evacuated in two weeks). https://www.politics.ox.ac.uk/event/thirty-seconds-quetta-time-and-disaster-north-west-frontier-1935
BFI Replay, "Quetta Earthquake" (1935 silent newsreel: evacuation by train, tent city). https://replay.bfi.org.uk/video/cedbd3fd-a9f2-53f4-8ebd-6f9a7da1b229
FIBIS wiki, "Quetta City 1935 Reconstruction Railway" (clean-up by army and PWD; line usable 15 March 1936; completed 1937; citing S. Darvill, Industrial Railways and Locomotives of India and South Asia, 2013). https://wiki.fibis.org/w/Quetta_City_1935_Reconstruction_Railway
Sudhir K. Jain, "Codes, Licensing, and Education", in 2001 Bhuj, India Earthquake Reconnaissance Report, Earthquake Spectra, vol. 18, Supplement A, 2002, pp. 319–339 (1931 railway quarters; 0.125g; GOI 1940 code; GSI 1939 quotation; Mair 1942; Robertson 1948). https://sudhirjain.info/2002_spectra_Bhuj_codes%20Licensing%20and%20Education.pdf
Government of India, Earthquake Resistant Design of Low Buildings, Government of India Press, New Delhi, 1940.
"Quetta to be rebuilt", Ashburton Guardian (New Zealand), 26 December 1935, Papers Past. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AG19351226.2.38
"May 1935", Wikipedia, entries for 30 and 31 May 1935 (20th Century Fox; US floods citing Chicago Daily Tribune 1 June 1935; Babe Ruth). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_1935

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