Ziarat District
Ziarat ( ur, ) is a district in the north of Balochistan province of Pakistan. Ziarat town (situated at an altitude of about 2,400 meters) is headquarters of the district of the Sub division, and also of the tehsil. Khalifat Hills have the highe ...
situated in the
Balochistan
Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...
. It is
from the capital city of Eastern Balochistan
Quetta
Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه) is the tenth List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in Geography of Pakistan, south-west of the country close to the ...
. It was established as a district on 1st July 1986, before then it was part of
Sibi
Sibi ( Sindhi: سيوي ur, ) is a city situated in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. The city is the headquarters of the district and tehsil of the same name.
Etymology
The origin of the town's name is attributed to Rani Sewi, a Hindu la ...
district. The
Quaid-e-Azam Residency
Quaid-e-Azam Residency ( ur, ), also known as Ziarat Residency, is located in Ziarat, Balochistan, Pakistan. It is where Muhammad Ali Jinnah spent the last two months and ten days of his life, nursed by A. S. Nathaniel. It is the most famous l ...
is in the valley, where
Quaid-e-Azam
Muhammad Ali Jinnah (, ; born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the ...
(the founder of Pakistan) spent a few of his most memorable days.
History
On 29 October 2008, at around 4 am, Ziarat and surrounding areas were struck by an
earthquake doublet
__NOTOC__
In seismology, doublet earthquakes – and more generally, multiplet earthquakes – were originally identified as multiple earthquakes with nearly identical waveforms originating from the same Epicenter, location. They are now characteri ...
. The first tremor, 6.2
magnitude
Magnitude may refer to:
Mathematics
*Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction
*Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object
*Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector
*Order of ...
, lasted a couple of seconds, and was followed by a magnitude-6.4 tremor that lasted almost 30 seconds, destroying many mud houses and several government buildings. Neighbouring villages were also badly affected by the earthquake. More than 200 people were killed, and over 50,000 were left homeless.
Landslide
Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated grade (slope), slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of ...
s cut off many roads, making the area less accessible to emergency responders. Pakistani military helicopters were used to reach mountainous and remote locations.
Geography
Ziarat is surrounded by the lush green
Ziarat Juniper Forest
The Ziarat Juniper Forest is a juniper forest in Ziarat, Balochistan, Pakistan.
Geography
These forests are spread around mountainous area of Ziarat and Mount Zarghoon. The mountains range from 1,181 to 3,488 meters elevation. The forests cover ...
, known locally as Sanober, home to the largest area of juniper forest (''
Juniperus seravschanica
''Juniperus seravschanica'' is a species of juniper. Common names include Pashtun juniper ( ps, اوبښته ''ōbəx̌ta'', " specieswhich sucks water"; Pashto: پښتني صنوبر).
It ranges from southernmost Kazakhstan through Kyrgyzstan, ...
'') in Pakistan, covering about 110,000 hectares. It is believed that the forest is the second largest of its kind in the world. The indigenous tribes over here are
Kakar
The Kakar (Pashto: کاکړ) is a Gharghashti Pashtun tribe, based mostly in Northern Balochistan, Pakistan and Loy Kandahar in Afghanistan.
Legendary origin
Kakars are sons of Gharghashti who was the son of Qais Abdul Rashid.
In Herat, the Ka ...
and
Tareen
The Tareen (or Tarin) ( ps, ترین) is a Pashtun tribe inhabiting southern Afghanistan, and western region of Pakistan.Caroe O. ''The Pathans 550 B.C.- A.D. 1957'' Oxford University Press . Page 521.Muhammad Hyat Khan, "Hayat i Afghan" (Orig. i ...
(including
Raisani
Raisarri رئیساڑی is one of many tribes that reside in Balochistan-former Brahui Ranges Kalat state. They speak the Brahui language in Mastung and Bolan and Brahui and Pashto language in Ziarat and Thal-Chotiali.
The Raisarri-رئیسا ...
).
Climate
Ziarat has a
continental climate
Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 north), within large landmasses where prevailing winds blow overland bringing som ...
(Koppen: ''Dsa)'' and remains quite cool in summer compared to other cities in Pakistan.