The GSP officials said that when the government had planned to declare Islamabad the federal capital, its seismic zoning was conducted. Geologists had warned the then government that Islamabad was prone to high intensity earthquakes because it was situated in an active earthquake zone.
The officials said that it was not advisable to construct high-rise buildings in Islamabad. They said that no building structure higher than two stories should be allowed in the federal capital, as the earth’s crust in Islamabad could not sustain the weight of high-rise buildings.
Admitedly, this article is rather week on details. However, it’s interesting in light of the major earthquake that struck the region recently and the fairly low standards of contruction present in some areas as well. See also: Asia May Be Due For More Earthquakes as well as a Wikipedia article on the Kashmir earthquake.
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