Pakistan is prone to earthquakes. Seismically, Pakistan is one of the most active areas of Asia. It has high density of active faults and is located at the intersection of three plate boundaries, namely Indian, Eurasian and Arabian. Numerous high-magnitude earthquakes in the past in Pakistan have resulted in loss of life, property and infrastructure. The 2005 Kashmir earthquake and 1935 Quetta earthquake were the most destructive, due to which thousands of people lost their lives. After a description of the regional tectonic structure for context, this article discusses the most major and most destructive historical earthquakes in Pakistan. It describes the associated tectonics, and provides an assessment of seismic hazards in Pakistan.

Article HistoryPalestine faces economic and political issues such as conflict, siege and urbanization; all these have led to an increase in the air pollution over Gaza Strip. In this study, Particulate matter 10 (PM10) concentrations over Gaza Strip has been estimated by Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) data, based on a multispectral algorithm. Simultaneously, in-situ measurements for the corresponding particulate are acquired for selected time period. Landsat and ground data for eleven years are used to develop the algorithm while four years data (2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014) have been used to validate the results of algorithm. The developed algorithm gives highest regression, R coefficient value i.e. 0.86; RMSE value as 9.71 µg/m³; P values as 0. Average validation of algorithm show that calculated PM10 strongly correlates with measured PM10, indicating high efficiency of algorithm for the mapping of PM10 concentration during the years 2000 to 2014. Overall results show increase in minimum, maximum and average yearly PM10 concentrations, also presents similar trend over urban area. The rate of urbanization has been evaluated by supervised classification of the Landsat image. Urban sprawl from year 2000 to 2014 results in a high concentration of PM10 in the study area.

Nanocomposites were synthesized from polyamide and aminosilane functionalized montmorillonite through solution intercalation method. Polyamide resin was prepared by reacting a mixture of p-phenylenediamine and 4,4 -oxydianiline with isophthaloyl chloride (IPC) in N,N -dimethyl acetamide (DMAc) under anhydrous conditions. The resulting chains were end capped with carbonyl chloride using slight excess of IPC near the end of reaction. 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTS) was used for the surface modification of clay. Triethoxysilane groups of APTS promoted the reaction between silane and hydroxyl groups on the surface of clay. The compatibility between the two disparate phases was achieved through interaction of free amine groups of modified clay with carbonyl chloride of the matrix. Thin films obtained by evaporating the solvent were characterized by FTIR, XRD, FESEM, TEM, TGA, DSC and tensile measurements. XRD and TEM results revealed the formation of partially delaminated and intercalated clay platelets in the matrix. Mechanical data showed improvement in the tensile strength Downloaded by [Akdeniz Universitesi] at 06:28 22 December 2014 2and moduli of the nanocomposites with clay loading up to 6-wt. %. The glass transition temperature increased up to 134 C for the nanocomposites containing 6-wt. % clay content and also the thermal stability augmented with increasing clay loading.

Natural and anthropogenic influence affects directly ecologic equilibrium and hydro morphologic symmetry of riverine surroundings. The current research intends to study the hydro morphologic features (meanders, shape, and size) of Indus River, Pakistan by using remote sensing (RS) and geographical information science (GIS) techniques to calculate the temporal changes. Landsat satellite imagery was used for qualitative and analytical study. Satellite imagery was acquired from Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM), Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) and Operational Land Imager (OLI). Temporal satellite imagery of study area was used to identify the variations of river morphology for the years 1988,1995,2002,2009 and 2017. Research was based upon the spatial and temporal change of river pattern with respect to meandering and flow pattern observations for 30 years’ temporal data with almost 7 years’ interval. Image preprocessing was applied on the imagery of the study area for the better visualization and identification of variations among the objects. Object-based image analysis technique was performed for better results of a feature on the earth surface. Model builder (Arc GIS) was used for calculation of temporal variation of the river. In observation many natural factor involves for pattern changes such as; floods and rain fall. The object-oriented classification was applied for land use/land cover (LULC) features of the study area for the years 1988 and 2017 and abrupt change observed. Overall, 1988 to 2017 the Indus River in the study area has changed its path and pattern.

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