Powerful Earthquake in Pakistan Luckily Avoids Highly Populated Areas

This morning, Pakistan experienced a very powerful 7.2 magnitude earthquake in its southwestern-most province. Luckily, the epicenter of the earthquake was located about 45 kilometers west of Dalbandin in a sparsely populated area of the Balochistan province. Unfortunately, though, there have been two deaths thought to be indirectly caused by the earthquake, both from heart attacks in possible reaction to the powerful quake.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2011_Pakistan_earthquake.jpg

Cities as far away as New Delhi and Dubai felt the aftershock of the earthquake, but luckily none of the highly populated cities in the region felt the full effect. Thankfully, the earthquake took place about 80 km (50 miles) under the surface of the earth, which is why the damage was very minimal. A quake of that scale close to the surface would have done very serious damage, such as the devastating 7.6 magnitude 2005 Kashmir, Pakistan earthquake that killed close to 80,000 people.

Here are StanaCard, we were very relieved to hear that this earthquake stayed so far below the surface and was felt the strongest in a non-populated area, especially in the wake of the detrimental floods that the Pakistani people have been slowly recovering from since this summer.

In the midst of all of the natural disasters that have recently affected Pakistan, now is a great time to call a friend or relative in Pakistan to try to boost their spirits a bit. And what better service to use than StanaCard, as we are currently running a special where you can get up to 40 percent off your calls to Pakistan or India. Also, you can get free calls to anywhere any time of year by simply telling a friend about our great service.

President Obama Discusses Pakistan

As President Obama makes his rounds in Asia, he hopes to bring peace and prosperity between India and Pakistan.  In a town-hall style speech he said, “The country that has the biggest stake in Pakistan’s success is India.  I think that if Pakistan is stable and prosperous, that is good.”  His speech was well received. 

"My hope is that over time trust develops, and dialogue begins," Obama also said. "The U.S. stands to be a partner in that process, but can't impose that."  Communication is always key, on every level imaginable.

Shortly after hearing word of the speech in India, Pakistani Ambassador Husain Haqqani wrote on Twitter, 

“Pakistan looks forward to President Obama's visit in 2011 and hopes that his trip to India will create opportunity for lasting peace in the region.”  Hopefully that was also well received.

Like Obama, we believe that communication is necessary and so is the creation of dialogue.  Through StanaCard’s services, this is even easier and cheaper than ever, because we have lowered the rates to Pakistan: 5.35¢ per minute!  Click here to check it out!

Another Rate Decrease for Pakistan!

Don’t make plans for the next few weekends because the Azme Alishan T20 Cricket Cup is taking place!  There are 12 teams from 3 different zones of Lahore.  The teams are named after the 12 gates of Lahore, which represent the strength, character, and history of the city.

The Azme Alishan movement invites both lovers and patriots of Pakistan from both home and abroad to celebrate Pakistan and its culture, identity, and values.  If you can’t make it for the tournament or any of the activities, you could use StanaCard’s services to be there virtually!  In fact, just in time to celebrate the movement and the tournament, our prices just dropped to a mere 6.99¢ per minute!  This is dirt-cheap compared to Skype’s 16.7¢/minute or TruPhone’s whopping 25¢/minute.

This way, you can catch up with your family and find out whether the Lohari gate Lions are going to take the cup as expected, or if the Shah Alam gate Sharks will pull it out in the end.

Click here to find out how you can get in touch and how you can earn credit by helping family or friends sign up!