7.2 Quake Hits Pakistan

International News

QUETTA, Jan 19 - A powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.2 rocked southwest Pakistan, jolting residents of cities as far apart as Delhi and Dubai, but the epicentre was far from major populations centre.

The 7.2-magnitude quake struck Pakistan early yesterday (4.23am Malaysia time) around 50km west of the town of Dalbandin, close to the border with Afghanistan, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

The epicentre of the earthquake is at Baluchistan province, but the area is mostly desert and the population is thin. The quake hit at a depth of 84km (50miles). However, the initial report from USGS said the quake happened at a depth of just 10m (6.2miles) below the surface. At that depth, earthquakes can cause major destruction and loss of life.

There was no major damage in Quetta and Dalbandin either, but the quake caused widespread panic in the city, said residents. Local TV reports said the quake was felt throughout several other provinces as well. Many residents in the country's largest city, Karachi, ran out into the streets once the quake started, said the reports.

“There could be aftershocks during the next week – there are active fault lines in Baluchistan,” said chief meteorologist Mohammad Riaz.

On 8^th October 2005, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake killed about 80,000 people in northwestern Pakistan and Kashmir and left more than 3 million homeless.

Sources:

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/world/article/quake-shakes-pakistan-damage-seems-limited/

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2011-01-18-pakistan-quake_N.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12222081

School Pilot Project to Detect Stress and Depression Among Students

Local News

Putrajaya:  An increasing number of youths suffering from mental health issues has prompted the Government to launch a pilot project in secondary schools to identify and address the situation.

Announcing this project on Tuesday, Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the Health and Education ministries would jointly launch the project in schools which have been randomly selected. They will first implement this pilot project in four secondary schools immediately. They are SM Sains in Teluk Intan, Perak; SMK Ahmad Badawi in Kepala Batas, Penang; SMK Simpang Bekok in Malacca; and SMK St Michael in Penampang, Sabah.

The objective of this project launched is to identify those students who are having mental health problems like stress, depression, suicide and anxiety and give them a helping hand to cope with these problems before the problems become worse and lead to serious consequences. These problems can be caused by family problems and inability to cope with stress. Liow added that the rising number of youths suffering from mental problems nowadays is one of the reasons for the ministries to carry out such project to help the students.

Under this project, students will be required to take a mental health evaluation test to determine if they are having any mental health problem. Besides, selected teachers will be trained to interpret the result of the test and take action according to the situation.

“The project will be over six months to gauge its effectiveness. We expect to introduce it in schools nationwide by the end of the year once we have ironed out any teething problems,” he said.

I suppose that this project is quite a helpful project for students. This is because the students nowadays are dealing with many mental health issues, for example, pressure from parents and family problems, which will make a great impact on students’ health. With counseling session and advice from teachers, this project can definitely help students to reduce their stress or depression and overcome mental health problems.

Sources:

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/1/19/nation/7828218&sec=nation

http://www.todayonline.com/World/EDC110120-0000187/School-pilot-project-in-Malaysia-to-detect-stress,-depression

http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/08same/Article/art_print