The Quake & its aftermath

From the HT:

They were buried alive in their bunkers guarding the nation's borders, for many more their homes became their graveyards as a killer earthquake struck large parts of the Kashmir valley leaving over 250 people dead and nearly 650 injured.

"It was like a land tsunami," said a grieving survivor looking around flattened and partially damaged houses, 1,100 in all, and the injured been rushed to the nearest medical facilities.

About 37 army jawans and four BSF personnel were killed when their bunkers and barracks on the Line of Control collapsed.

From PTI:

The worst affected districts were Baramulla, Kupwara, Srinagar and Poonch which also reported most injuries.

More than 145 people died in Baramulla, over 50 perished in Kupawara. Fortyone security personnel -- 37 armymen and four BSF jawans -- were buried alive in Uri sector when their bunkers and barracks collapsed. Seven people were killed in Srinagar, while 17 died in Jammu division -- mainly in Poonch and Udhampur.

Official sources said the death toll was continously mounting as reports started pouring in from far off places which got cut off from the rest of the valley.

And PTI again :

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tonight spoke to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and offered all assistance in the earthquake-relief work in the neighbouring country.

And PTI yet again:

Pakistan tonight said it was not averse to coordinate with Indian army in providing relief to quake-hit people on both sides of the LoC and the two armies could use the hotline facility if needed.
"We have a lot to do on each side. The hotline do exist between the two armies as you may know. If there is need to coordinate something, the channels are open on both sides," Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said when asked whether Pakistan was open for coordination with the Indian army in relief operations in Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.

Reporters' log: Kashmir earthquake

From the BBC site - a number of first person accounts on the quake, its aftermath and rescue operations. And the toll, now at 18,000 victims

First Person Accounts in Blogs

A few first-person accounts on the earthquake from bloggers in Pakistan.

More pictures

More pictures from the disaster areas - Reuters.

Special emergency measures taken by IESCO for the earthquake-hit areas

Chief Executive IESCO, Brigadier Shahbaz Azam has instructed all the circle incharges to take maximum possible measures throughout the IESCO region in case of any emergency and take part in all relief operations being carried out in earthquake-hit areas. He said in case of any emergency situation with regard to suspension of electricity, all the concerned people in IESCO from Attock to Jehlum have made special arrangements.

In the head office a deputy chief executive of complaint and monitoring cell will supervise and monitor the emergency situation round the clock. He will be available on these emergency telephone numbers, Islamabad circle 9220927, City circle 9219308, Attock circle 9213989, Chakwal circle 9219321 and toll free no: 0800-25250 where the people can contact in case of any emergency.

In Margala Towers of F-10 area of Islamabad, which was hit badly due the earthquake, IESCO has already dispatched emergency lights, cables and power generators so that there could be no hindrance in the ongoing rescue operations, Chief executive said.


Source: Pakistan Link

Earthquake Relief Donations Needed

Kindly deposit any clothing, blankets or non perishable items at PAF Museum - new parking lot - on Sunday, 9th October (PAF Museum, Near Karsaz Chowk, Shahra-e-Faisal Karachi-75350) . The Pakistan Airforce and Army are looking for your help. You may contact the PAF Museum at the following numbers:

1. 9248326 - 36 (10 lines)
2. 48512481 - 83 - 84


Source: Karachi MetroBlogs

LIFE Mobilizing to Provide Emergency Relief for Victims of the Earthquake in Pakistan

Life for Relief and Development (LIFE), an American humanitarian relief organization based in Southfield, Mich. is mobilizing to help the victims of the tremendous earthquake, which struck Pakistan today, by providing emergency humanitarian relief and medical supplies.

The earthquake has caused massive damages throughout the country. Thousands of homes have been destroyed, buildings and schools collapsed and several villages were totally wiped-out throughout the Northwest Frontier Province and Azad Kashmir leaving thousands of families homeless and panicking in the streets. These victims are in desperate need of essential items like water, food, hygiene items and shelter.

LIFE will be providing emergency items to these families and will be responsible for the purchase and distribution of the humanitarian supplies. The medical and humanitarian supplies will be distributed through LIFE's office in Pakistan.

LIFE is initiating a donation drive to help pay for the expenses involved in purchasing and distributing the emergency humanitarian supplies, and is asking for local communities to help these affected families in need. The most needed items include:

1. Tents,
2. Blankets,
3. Quilts,
4. Plastic sheeting,
5. Food Items,
6. Jerry cans,
7. Bottled water,
8. Cooking utensils, and
9. Basic medical supplies

LIFE provides medical and relief supplies to civilian populations around the world, without regard to race, color, creed, or ethnic origin. For more information on how you can help, please contact the LIFE office at 248-424-7493 or by e-mail.


Source: US Newswire

Church World Service update: Pakistan/Afghanistan/India Earthquake

SITUATION: A powerful earthquake today near the Pakistan-India border has reportedly killed more than 3,000 persons. Among those killed were 250 girls in northwestern Pakistan who perished when their school collapsed, the Associated Press (AP) news service reported.

About a third of the total fatalities were reported in Pakistan; also badly affected was the contested region of Kashmir. The quake destroyed numerous villages where mud buildings are common; the quake also caused numerous mudslides, the AP reported.

RESPONSE: Church World Service Pakistan/Afghanistan has already begun distribution of relief assistance and is conducting assessments; CWS staff in the Pakistan capital of Islamabad are all accounted for.

Specifically: CWS Pakistan/Afghanistan is moving 600 shelter kits and family food packages to Murree today for initial relief distribution efforts. The CWS Pakistan/Afghanistan offices in Karachi, Islamabad, Mansehra and Murree are organizing relief efforts and strategizing to address the needs on the ground.

Three assessment teams are currently assessing needs and determining what a longer-term CWS response might be. Long-term response may focus around Mansehra and Murree, communities north of Islamabad where CWS has programs, as well as good community connections.

Initial relief plans also call for assisting 950 families by providing emergency food packages (including wheat flour, rice, pulses, cooking oil, sugar, tea leaves, salt and match boxes) in the most affected and remote areas of Northwest Frontier Province, near the border with Afghanistan, and in Azad Kashmir.

Long-term response may include assisting 10,000 affected families with food and non-food items. In addition to emergency relief, the response may include shelter construction materials.
In addition, parts of Afghanistan are also affected and CWS staff there will also be conducting an assessment in affected regions of that country.


Source: ChurchWorldService

South Asia earthquake: Red Cross Red Crescent releases emergency funds

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is releasing an initial amount of 200,000 Swiss francs to support victims of a devastating earthquake (7.6 on the Richter scale) which struck the region bordering Pakistan, northern India and Afghanistan today. Thousands are feared dead and injured, trapped under rubble as aftershocks continued to shake cities and villages across the region. The epicenter was located in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

The Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) immediately dispatched three assessment missions in the early afternoon, local time, two to the north western frontier provinces and one to Pakistan-administered Kashmir to assess damages and the needs of victims.

Read the Full Story at ReliefWeb

Pakistan: Earthquake Relief Cell

"Earthquake Relief Cell" has been established in Prime Minister House. It will work round the clock and will receive complaints from the earthquake affectees. The phone numbers are: (+9251) 9213891 or (+9251) 9222999 [Ed. Numbers local to Islamabad]. Earthquake Relief Cell has also been established in the Ministry of Interior.

Pakistan: Confirmed death toll in quake passes 1,800

ISLAMABAD, Oct 8 (AFP) The confirmed death toll in Saturday's massive earthquake, which rocked India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, has passed 1,800, officials said. "The death toll is between 550 and 600 in North West Frontier Province and it is likely to rise," Riffat Pasha, the provincial head of police said. Some 250 people were confirmed dead and thousands more injured in Muzaffarabad,a government official said adding that "there is a massive devastation in the city.” "Village after village has been wiped out" in Azad Kashmir, an army relief official said from Muzaffarabad said. "The Neelum River has been blocked because whole villages have fallen into the water," the official added

Source: Dawn

Officials: Confirmed death toll in quake passes 1,800

The confirmed death toll in Saturday's massive earthquake, which rocked India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, has passed 1,800, officials said. "The death toll is between 550 and 600 in North West Frontier Province and it is likely to rise," Riffat Pasha, the provincial head of police said. Some 250 people were confirmed dead and thousands more injured in Muzaffarabad, a government official said adding that "there is a massive devastation in the city.”

"Village after village has been wiped out" in Azad Kashmir, an army relief official said from Muzaffarabad said. "The Neelum River has been blocked because whole villages have fallen into the water," the official added.


Source: DAWN

British rescue teams head for Pakistan after quake

LONDON, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Britain is sending search and rescue experts, sniffer dogs and aid workers to help Pakistan with the aftermath of Saturday's earthquake, officials said.

"We offered immediate assistance to the government of Pakistan which they have accepted," International Development Minister Hilary Benn said.

A first search and rescue team left London's Heathrow airport early on Saturday evening and a second plane was due to leave later from East Midlands airport near Nottingham.

The second plane would include rescue teams and sniffer dogs from aid agencies and fire brigades as well as consular staff and humanitarian supplies such as blankets, the Department for International Development said.

It was due to arrive at an air base in Islamabad at 8 a.m. local time on Sunday.

"We will continue to monitor and assess the situation and are ready to support the Pakistani authorities further, should they need our assistance," Benn said.

Source: Reuters AlertNet

Save the Children: Asian earthquake update

Toby Porter, Director of Emergencies:

"Save the Children operates substantial programmes in both India and Pakistan. As soon as the earthquake occurred our staff and partners there began to gather information, and tried to gain access to the worst affected areas. In the next 24 hours, we plan to commence distributions of shelter materials such as blankets and warm clothing, as the weather in the affected areas has begun to turn cold, especially at night".

Additional information:

- Save the Children emergency response staff will be on a flight to Pakistan from London tonight.

- Save the Children has been present in the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir for 28 years.

- In Pakistan our teams have started to make assessments and are offering assistance to the authorities, in co-ordination with the United Nations and other international and national agencies.

- Save the Children has many years experience of responding to earthquakes all over the world. The immediate priority, once rescue and recovery operations are underway, is to get adequate shelter and household items to children and their families.


Source: ReliefWeb

Pakistan, India, Afghanistan – Earthquake: OCHA Situation Report No. 2

This situation report is based on information from United Nations Resident Coordinator’s office in Islamabad, Delhi, Kabul and OCHA Regional Office of Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok.

Pakistan

Situation:
1.Strong tremors, recorded at the magnitude 7.4, were felt in northern Pakistan on 8 October 2005, rocking buildings in the capital Islamabad, Muzaffarabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore and Peshawar. There have been more than ten after shocks magnitude from 5.2 to 6.3. The Army and the state administration are conducting rescuer and relief operation.

Impact:
2. Massive destruction has taken place in six northern districts of NWFP, five districts of Azad of Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) state, including Muzaffarabad. Most of the multi-story buildings and mud houses have collapsed with large-scale causalities and injuries. An eleven-story residential apartments building collapsed in Islamabad, and rescue operations are on going.


India

Impact:
9. In Jammu Kashmir, India, 213 people have lost lives, including 16 army personnel. 385 people have been injured due to collapsing building walls in Paraypora, Poonch, Baramulla, Srinagar and Anantnag districts. Preliminary assessments state 963 buildings and houses were damaged.

10. According to the UN Resident Coordinator’s office in India (www.undp.org.in/dmweb), the worst affected districts in Jammu and Kashmir due to impact of the high magnitude earthquake are districts of Poonch, Baramulla , Jammu, Udhampur, Ramban Kathus, Srinagar, Budgam, Anantnag, Pulwama and Kupwara.


Afghanistan

Impact:
14. Tremors were also felt in Afghanistan. In Nangarhar and Jalalabad provinces, some minor residential mud-brick buildings were collapsed. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) Jalalabad has reported at least one death. UNAMA is coordinating with UN Agencies and local government to assess damages and prepare a response.

Read More....


Source: ReliefWeb

Medair dispatches staff to Pakistan

Medair is responding to the 7.6 magnitude earthquake by sending experienced staff already located in the region to Pakistan to determine the extent of the need, and if necessary, to begin assisting in the provision of emergency supplies and shelter. Medair has released initial funding from its Emergency Fund to assist in the crisis.

A 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck northern Pakistan and India on Saturday, killing hundreds and possibly thousands, with reports of mountain villages wiped out. Details of the extent of the disaster are limited at present because of disruption to communication links.

For more details, please contact: Robert Schofield, Emergency Desk Officer (language: English), Phone: +41 (0)21 694 3535 Mobile number +41 (0)79 622 9984 robert.schofield@medair.org

John Farmer Operations Director (language: English), Phone: +41(0)21 694 3535 Mobile number +41(0)78 867 0454 john.farmer@medair.org


Source: Medair

DFA: No Filipino casualties in Pakistan quake

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said there were no reported Filipino casualties in Pakistan following the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that struck the south Asian subcontinent Saturday. TV Patrol World quoted DFA spokesman Gilbert Asuque as saying that as of 8 p.m., none of the 394 confirmed killed in Pakistan were Filipinos. Asuque said they are coordinating with Pakistan officials for further information.

The earthquake struck at 0350 GMT (11:30 a.m. in Manila) and was centered about 95 km northeast of Pakistan's capital Islamabad. Officials said heavy damage was expected in northern Pakistan, but details were difficult to obtain because telephone lines were down and mobile networks overwhelmed. The first quake was followed by a series of four aftershocks of magnitudes between 5.4 and 5.9. They were felt across the subcontinent and shook buildings in the Afghan, Indian and Bangladeshi capitals, Kabul, New Delhi and Dhaka.

Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao told ARY One television he had reports that several villages had been entirely wiped out. More than 100 people were killed in one district of Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province alone, police said. Damage was also heavy in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistani Kashmir, residents said. Geo TV said 25 people had been killed in Pakistani Kashmir and about 30 in the Hazara area of North West Frontier Province. Scores of people were feared killed or trapped in two 12-storey apartment blocks reduced to rubble in Islamabad. Read More....


Source: ABS-CBN Interactive

World Vision responds to 7.6 Richter scale earthquake

World Vision is deploying assessment teams to some of the hardest-hit areas following today's earthquake that was felt across Pakistan, Afghanistan and parts of northern India, which officials are calling the strongest in over a century.

"With more than 70 per cent of dwellings destroyed in the Mansehra region, much of the infrastructure ruined and reports of entire villages leveled, the most important task is coordinating immediate distribution of emergency supplies," said Dave Toycen, president of World Vision Canada. "Winter is quickly approaching and the harsh temperatures at night are going to cause incredible suffering for the thousands of children and their families left homeless."

The next 48 hours are critical as aftershocks continue to increase tension and panic among the survivors. Relief supplies are being readied for shipment from warehouses in the region. Emergency relief supplies being distributed will include items such as: food, water, cooking utensils, hygiene items (such as soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and feminine hygiene products), blankets, medicines and medical supplies as well as shelter materials. Read More.....


Source: World Vision Canada

Abu Dhabi rescue team heads to quake-hit Pakistan

A team of officers from Abu Dhabi police left for Pakistan Saturday to help in search and rescue operations following the devastating earthquake there, the official WAM news agency reported.
The 26-strong police rescue team will help search for survivors and treat the wounded from the earthquake, "in the first overseas mission on such a (large) scale," it said.

Oil-rich Abu Dhabi is the largest and wealthiest member of the seven-strong United Arab Emirates (UAE). UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan also ordered the immediate dispatch of humanitarian aid to quake-hit areas of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan, WAM reported. An earthquake measuring at least 7.6 on the Richter scale caused massive devastation on Saturday across a swathe of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan.

The UAE Red Crescent Authority will shortly send teams to Pakistan and India to extend relief aid to quake victims, board chairman Khalifa Nasser al-Suwaidi was quoted by WAM as saying.
The authority's office in Afghanistan has also been instructed to send delegates to areas affected by the quake and provide food, medical and other vital assistance to the victims, he said.


Source: AFP via IC Publications

Russia says ready to give emergency aid to quake-stricken Pakistan

Russian Emergency Situations Ministry is ready to give aid to Pakistan that was rocked by a strong earthquake Saturday morning, Viktor Beltsov, the ministry’s advisor for communications with the mass media said Saturday night. More specifically, Russia is ready to consign relief supplies and dispatch rescue workers to Pakistan, he said.

“The personnel and technology resources of the National Corps for Emergency Humanitarian Deployment have been placed on alert in case we’re asked to send rescue teams and humanitarians supplies to Pakistan,” he said.

Moscow is also considering a possibility of sending an expert who will join the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination team (UNDAC), which is now assessing the volumes and contents of humanitarian aid the population of the quake-affected areas needs, Beltsov said.


Source: ITAR-TASS

Turkey sends 2 planes with quake aid to Pakistan

Turkey said it had sent two military planes to Pakistan carrying aid, doctors and rescue workers to help victims of a major earthquake that struck northern Pakistan and India on Saturday. The planes' cargo included 21 rescue workers, 30 medical personnel, two ambulances, one transport vehicle and a towing truck, the prime minister's office said in a statement. Turkey's Red Crescent has asked for three more planes to take aid to the quake victims, it said.

Turkey's military General Staff, government ministries, civil defence officials and Red Crescent are coordinating their relief effort with Pakistan's embassy in Ankara, the statement said. Well over 1,000 people were killed in northern Pakistan and India in the 7.6 magnitude quake, the region's strongest in living memory. The death toll is expected to climb further. Muslim Turkey, which is also very prone to earthquakes, has warm ties with Pakistan. President Pervez Musharraf spent part of his youth in Turkey and speaks some Turkish.


Source: Reuters via AlertNet

Pictures from the disaster area

Rediff

BBC

Flickr "earthquake" cluster

First person accounts solicited

Rediff is looking for First Person accounts of you quake experiences. Go here to add yours to their pages.

If you're a blogger in the affected area, and you'd like to post information on this blog, via email, SMS, phone or as a contributor, please let us know via a comment. Don't forget to leave contact information.

Hundreds die in South Asia quake

Pakistan says more than 1,000 people may have died in a powerful quake that also hit north India and Afghanistan.

The quake with a magnitude of at least 7.6 had the epicentre 80km (50 miles) north-east of Islamabad.

At least 500 died in North-West Frontier province in Pakistan and 1,700 were injured. In Indian-administered Kashmir, 200 are confirmed dead.

Rescuers are trying to reach dozens of residents feared trapped in a building that collapsed in Islamabad.

Source: BBC News

Massive tremors rock north India

Massive tremors rocked North India at 9.25 AM on Saturday morning. Tremors measuring 6.8 on the richter scale were felt in Delhi, Srinagar, Amritsar, Patiala, Jaipur, Chandigarh and Dehradun. The quake had its epicentre in Pakistan.

Immediate reports from Jammu & Kashmir say that normal life has been disrupted. Communication lines have been disconnected. People have left their houses and taken refuge under the open sky.

The tremors went on for about thirty seconds and are reported to have also been felt in neighbouring Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Local television in Pakistan said the quake caused panic in Islamabad, as well as nearby Rawalpindi, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta near the Afghan border.

Source: Rediff.com

Pakistani college closed - Update from Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad

Abbottabad and areas around faced a heavy eartquake (7.6) at 8:42 AM today the 8th September 2005 which resulted in damage to many buildings and have claimed many lives in Abbottabad, Mansehra, Balakot, Garhi Habibullah, Muzafarabad and areas north to this region.

All hospitals in the region are on Red Alert receiving victums of the quake. More than 200 patients have been treated in Ayub Teaching Hospital till now (3:30 PM)

The Surgery Paper B of Final Year MBBS has been posponed while the rest of the examination will be on schedule. The College will remain closed till further order. The hostels have been evacuated as a precaution. For more information please email, call +92-(992)-381907 or send a fax to +92-(992)-382321


Source: Ayub Medical College

Fearing aftershocks, Pakistan hospital treats wounded outdoors

Lying on makeshift beds on a hospital lawn in this northwestern Pakistani hill town, some screaming in pain, hundreds of men, women and children wait for help. But they have to stay there for now, because doctors say the monster earthquake that rumbled through the region early Saturday could have made the building dangerous.

"We feel it is unsafe to keep patients inside," Amir Shah, a senior doctor at the Ayub hospital in Abbotabad, told AFP.

Already at breaking point because of the flood of victims and a shortage of supplies, vilent aftershocks added to the worry.

"Our doctors and paramedical staff are scared to go in. The building has already developed cracks," Shah said.

Abbotabad is on the road towards the epicentre of the quake and is just miles (kilometres) from the worst affected area, where thousands of people are feared to have died. In the nearby districts of Mansehra and Malakand in North West Frontier Province police said the up to 600 had perished, while Pakistani-controlled Kashmir was thought to have suffered even bigger casualties. Some of the injured interviewed by AFP at Ayub hospital said they saw entire villages razed.

"I was working in the field close to a building when I felt the jolt and saw houses tumbling down to the ground," one of the injured, Wali Rehman, from Ugi village in North West Frontier Province, told AFP.

"I know my mother and my family have died," he said, weeping.

Another victim from near Balakot town in Kashmir said at least 200 homes in his village were flattened. "It was complete devastation all around," Jehanzib Khan told AFP.

As ambulances and vans continually ferried injured people to the hospital, the lawn became more crowded with patients. A hailstorm as night fell a hailstorm added to their discomfort. Dozens of people, mainly workers from the local Al-Khidmat private aid service, had gathered at the hospital, trying to arrange medicines, food and blood for the injured. They also brought food for victims to break their fast as the third day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan came to a close. But doctors feared they have only treated a fraction of the victims from the earthquake. Many affected areas have been cut off by landslides and it will take people hours or even days to get to Abbotabad.

"We need medicines, blood and equipment to treat the stream of wounded people," said doctor Nadeem Gohar.


Source: ReliefWeb

Hospitals inundated after Asian quake

The South Asia quake struck just before 6 o'clock in the morning Central European Time, and was just 10 kilometres deep. It was followed by a series of strong aftershocks. It is reported that several villages close to the epicentre of the quake have been totally destroyed. In Islamabad, scores of people were feared killed or trapped in two 12-storey apartment blocks that collapsed.

In Afghanistan, authorities say apart from the death of a young girl when a wall collapsed, and some damage to buildings, the country appeared to escape the worst of the quake. Deaths have been reported in many outlying areas in Pakistan, but so far there is no official tally. Hospitals have been inundated with scores of people who have been injured.


Source: EuroNews

The Quake-affected area

From the BBC here, as part of this report.

UN ready to assist the victims of the earthquake in Pakistan

The United Nations is ready to assist the victims of the earthquake which occurred on 8 October in Northern Pakistan, also affecting neighbouring countries of India and Afghanistan.

“ We are in contact with the Governments of the countries affected. OCHA stands ready to dispatch an United Nations Disaster and Coordination Team (UNDAC) to help assess the damage and coordinate the response in Pakistan”, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland said today.

In Geneva, an UNDAC team is on stand-by ready to be deployed at the request of the Government of Pakistan. An aircraft has been made available by the Government of Switzerland to fly directly to Islamabad later today.

In Pakistan, damage to buildings and houses have been reported in Islamabad. More severe damage is being reported in Muzaffarabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore and Peshawar. It is anticipated that the death toll might be severe.

The high intensity of the earthquake in Pakistan was also felt in Afghanistan and across northern India. In India, where buildings have collapsed, official reports confirm the death of more than 200 people and more than 400 injured. There is minor damage in Afghanistan where two people are reported to have been killed.


Source: ReliefWeb

India: About 250 killed in J&K quake, 650 injured

Srinagar, Oct 8.(PTI): About 250 people, including 25 security personnel, were killed and 650 others injured in a powerful earthquake that rocked Jammu and Kashmir this morning leaving a trail of devastation.

Hundreds of houses and other buildings collapsed or were damaged in the tremor, which was the strongest in over 120 years, and was followed by over a dozen aftershocks that triggered panic in the area.

Official sources said the death toll was continuously mounting as reports have started pouring in from far off places which got cut off from the mainland due to the earthquake.

Baramulla district of North Kashmir was the worst hit where 142 people died especially in the border town of Uri where a number of villages near the Line of Control almost got flattened.

Read teh Full Story at The Hindu

Quake kills '400' schoolchildren

The bodies of at least 250 children have been pulled from the rubble of a school destroyed by the powerful earthquake in north-west Pakistan.

Police chief Riffat Pashar told Reuters news agency 350 altogether had died in the collapse in Mansehra district.

"Fifty were killed in another school in the same district," he said. There is no confirmation.

More than 2,000 people are feared dead from the 7.6-magnitude quake that hit Pakistan, India and Afghanistan.

The earthquake, which was registered at 0350GMT, was felt as far away as the Afghan capital, Kabul, and India's capital, Delhi.

Read the Full Story at BBC News

India offers help to quake-hit Pakistan

Despite reeling under the aftermath of the devastating earthquake, India on Saturday offered rescue and relief assistance to neighbouring Pakistan, parts of which also suffered extensive damage in the natural calamity.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a message to President Pervez Musharraf said, "while parts of India have also suffered from this unexpected natural disaster, we are prepared to extend any assistance with rescue and relief which you may deem appropriate".

He expressed distress at the extensive loss of life and property in Pakistan as a result of the natural disaster.

The prime minister conveyed condolences to those who have been bereaved in the tragedy.

In another message, External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh conveyed to his counterpart Khurshid M Kasuri profound sympathy to all those who have lost their loved ones and those who have been injured in the quake.

"Please do not hesitate to indicate to us in whatever way we can be of some assistance both for rescue and relief in the affected areas," he said.

Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran spoke to his Pakistani counterpart for the first time over the hotline activated recently to convey sympathy over the tragic loss.

Soure: Rediff.com

MSF team at Asian earthquake zone

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has a staff of three who recently arrived in the Pakistani area to start a project on safe motherhood. The focus now is to mobiize more staff and supplies to the region. An earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter Scale struck in the north of Pakistan this morning, just 80 kms north of the Pakistan capital, Islamabad. The affected area runs from the north of Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Indian Kashmir.

MSF was already present in the area with three expats in the village of Lamnian in Pakistani Kashmir, some 15 kilometers from the line of control with Indian Kashmir and close to the epicentre of the earthquake. The three are a project coordinator, logistician and nurse and were about to start a project there and were hiring national staff.

The village has been completely destroyed, including the clinic where we are about to start working and the MSF house. The project would focus on safe motherhood. All team members are fine. The Pakistani army is responding with big logistical/medical capacity

MSF is now focusing to getting reponse capacity to the region. Stocks from Quetta, Dubai and Mumbai will be moved up to the north and MSF is looking into how to get additional resources in the country; cargo as well as people (blankets; jerrycans; sleeping mats and tents)


Source: ReliefWeb

Aftershocks still felt hours after Pakistan quake

ISLAMABAD, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Strong aftershocks rattled the capitals of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan on Saturday afternoon, hours after a deadly quake shook the south Asian subcontinent.

Reuters correspondents in Islamabad, New Delhi and Kabul all reported feeling a strong aftershock at around 1045 GMT -- nearly seven hours after the main quake which was centred around 95 kms (60 miles) northeast of the Pakistan capital.

Pakistan officials say whole villages have been flattened by the quake and they fear thousands of casualties.

Source: Reuters AlertNet

Czech rescuers prepared to help Asia hit by earthquake

Czech rescuers are prepared to go to the south Asian regions badly hit by an earthquake today, spokesman of the Czech Fire and Rescue Corps Petr Kopacek and spokesman for the Hand for Help humanitarian organisation Jana Eichlerova said.

The rescuers are only waiting for an official request from local authorities. The firefighters are able to prepare their rescuer team within 24 hours and rescuers from Hand for Help are also capable of leaving for the region at the same time, they said, adding that money-raising campaigns have been launched already.

"We don't know yet what the Pakistani government requests and what it will need. We don't know whether they want foodstuffs or a special team," Kopacek said. He said that the rescuer and reconnaissance team which also includes dog-handlers, could be prepared to leave within 12 or 24 hours. Hand for Help, which organised help in Southeastern Asia which was hit by a devastating tsunami last year, is also waiting for an official request from Pakistani authorities.

Director of the Czech ADRA Jan Barta said that his organisation was collecting the first information and would organise a money collection if need be. Czech Catholic Charity is also prepared to start a collection on the Internet, its spokesman Jan Oulik said.


Source: CTK

Disaster Management Helpline in India

The disaster management cell at the Indian Home Ministry Control room telephones:

91 (011)-23093563
91 (011)-23093564
91 (011)-23093566

UN to help countries affected by Pakistan earthquake

8 October 2005 – Following a massive earthquake in Pakistan that affected also Afghanistan and India, the United Nations is working with the governments of those countries on an emergency response.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is exploring “ways in which the United Nations can assist in all efforts required to support relief and rescue operations and in subsequent recovery and reconstruction,” a spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in New York.

The spokesman said Mr. Annan is “deeply saddened by the loss of life and destruction” caused by the quake, which had a magnitude of 7.6 and struck 95 kilometres outside of Islamabad.

Source: UN News Centre

UNDP India - Earthquake Situation Report 1

A strong earthquake of magnitude 7.4 occurred on 8th October 2005 at 8.50.38 AM (local time) with epicenter at 34.432°N, 73.537°E in Muzaffarabad Region of Pakistan lasting for 6 minutes. The depth of the earthquake was at 10 km with preliminary location at 93 km from Islamabad, Pakistan, 114 km from Mingaora, Pakistan and 124 km from Srinagar, Kashmir. Subsequent after shock tremors of 5.9, 5.6 and 5.2 and 6.0 magnitude at intervals were recorded in the same region of Kohistan region i.e 65 km east of Mingaora, Pakistan and 172 kms North West of Srinagar (Jammu & Kashmir), India.

The high intensity earthquake was felt in part of Afghanistan and across northern India covering states of Jammu, Kashmir, Uttaranchal, Delhi, and Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh at 9.25 a.m. IST on 8th October 2005. The worst affected districts in Jammu and Kashmir due to impact of the high magnitude earthquake are districts of: Poonch, Baramulla , Jammu, Udhampur, Ramban Kathus, Srinagar, Budgam, Anantnag, Pulwama and Kupwara.

Location 34.748°N, 73.141°E
Depth 10 km (6.2 miles)
Region PAKISTAN
Distances 71 km (44 miles) E (93°) from Mingaora, Pakistan
120 km (75 miles) N (0°) from ISLAMABAD, Pakistan
164 km (102 miles) SE (139°) from Chitral, Pakistan

Preliminary Location
4.0 kms SE of Ghori, POK
10.7 kms ESE NNE of Muzaffarabad, POK,
32.9 kms ENE of Manshera, Pakistan,
60.9 kms NW of Uri (Jammu & Kashmir), India,
90.2 kms NNE of Islamabad, Pakistan,
123 kms WNW of Srinagar (Jammu & Kashmir), India,
326 kms NNW of Lahore (Punjab), Pakistan,
740 kms NW of Delhi (NCT), India.

Damage Details:

Pakistan: Strong tremors were felt in northern Pakistan, rocking buildings in the capital Islamabad
Muzaffarabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Peshawar. Reports of server damage to buildings, houses and
casualties of injured residence and death toll risen to 1000 people have been reported from Islamabad,
Muzaffarabad, North West Frontier Province(NWFP) and Lahore districts. Army and the state
administration are conduction rescue and relief operations.

Jammu Kashmir, India:

Official reports confirm death of 213 people (Srinagar, Baramulla and Kupwara, Uri, Poonch,
Udhampur and Doa districts) , including 16 army personnel, in Jammu & Kashmir and death of
1each in Gurdaspur and Batala districts, Punjab.

385 people have sustained injures due to collapse of building walls in Paraypora, Poonch,
Baramulla, Srinagar and Anantnag districts while 7 buildings were damaged in Amristar,
Hoshiarpur, Moga, and Gurdaspur in Punjab state.

Preliminary assessment state damage to 963 masonry buildings (houses, buildings) reported
from Uri, Baramulla and Sopore towns of Baramulla district and in Srinagar, Anantnag,
Baramulla and Kupwara districts .

Incidence of fire reported in parts of Baramulla district while Moti Mahal Fort in Poonch district
and Reasi Fort in Reasi district have sustained damages. People in the affected districts
panicked and came out their homes after shock tremor felt at 4.15 IST.

Communication network, infrastructure facilities and traffic has been disrupted on the National
Highway 1A between Srinagar-Muzaffarpur and Boniyar due to landslide triggered by the
earthquake.

Administrative Measures:

The affected district administration are being assisted by the army and air force to conduct
rescue/search and relief operations in Uri, Tangdhar, Baramulla and Kupwara sector, while
essential supplies, including power, water and telecommunication are being restored .

The personnel have evacuated injured persons to Uri Field Hospital. Makeshift hospitals are set
up and doctors were being flown to Uri to attend to the injured.

The Home Secretary Government of India has taken stock of the situation with the Chief
Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir .Also the secretaries of Central ministries/departments have
been requested to extend emergency support.

Prime Minister of India is closely monitoring the situation and announced an ex-gratia amount
of Rs 1000,000 to persons dead and assured all possible Central assistance to the state.

For Further Information:

G Padmanabhan
Emergency Analyst, UNDP
E-mail: g.padmanabhan@undp.org,
Mobile: 91 -- 98104 02937
http://www.undp.org.in/dmweb/

Source: ReliefWeb

Oxfam: Asian Earthquake: Update 2

Oxfam has just coordinated a meeting in Islamabad of all of the international aid agencies responding to the earthquake.

At that meeting it was agreed which organisation would be leading in which area to ensure a coordinated response.

Teams from each of the agencies are leaving on assessment and response missions, some have already left and in the next few hours more will be
dispatched.

It is becoming clear that the most affected area is Pakistan administered Kashmir where 5 out of 7 divisions are severely affected. Oxfam has started an assessment in 3 of these 5 areas with teams already on the ground. Winter is drawing in in the region and night time temperatures are already dropping. Winterised tents and blankets will be urgently needed.

Read the Full Story at ReliefWeb

India - Severest earthquake in 120 years in Jammu & Kashmir: official

Srinagar, Oct. 8 (PTI): The earthquake that shook Jammu and Kashmir today was the severest in the state in over 120 years, a senior officer of the weather office said.

Our records show that an earthquake of 7.0 magnitude was felt in the valley with epicentre at Sopore in Baramulla district of North Kashmir on May 30, 1885, Director, Weather Office, G K Mohantey, told PTI here.

He said although Jammu and Kashmir usually witnessed moderate to severe earthquakes in the past as well, today's tremor was the severest.

Mohantey said today's earthquake had the magnitude of 7.4 on the Richter scale and its epicentre was at a place near Muzaffarabad in Pakistan at latitude 30.6 degrees north and longitude 73.0 degrees east.

Read the Full Story at The Hindu

India - Uri - Army seizes Uri town, bars media entry

Boniyar (J & K), Oct. 8 (PTI): The Army has seized Uri and barred media from entering the town of Baramullah district in Jammu and Kashmir even as the injured were being evacuated hours after the 7-plus magnitude earthquake flattened it this morning.

Survivors of the giant quake said in this hamlet, 20 km from Uri, that the death toll was "much higher" and the entire town had been flattened.

They complained that the relief and rescue efforts had not come speedily and were not enough.

Source: The Hindu

India - Met office warns of strong aftershocks

New Delhi, Oct 8. (PTI): After the massive earthquake that killed hundreds of people in Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan today, strong aftershocks continued to rock the region with the Met department warning of more in the next several days.

Seven aftershocks measuring over 5.0 on the Richter scale were recorded after the temblor measuring 7.4 rocked the region at 0920 hrs IST. All were epicentred near Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The strongest of these was a 6 magnitude jolt recorded at 1616 hrs and several smaller ones were felt through the day.

A Met official said aftershocks were a normal phenomenon after a major earthquake and these were likely to continue for several days.

However, no warnings were being issued as it was not possible to predict the timing of the aftershocks, he said.

Today's temblor was one of the strongest recorded in the region in recent times.

Source: The Hindu

Pakistan - First field assessments out

There's an urgent call for medical assistance in Mansehra, 50 kilometer north of Islamabad. A german-based medical ngo - Humedica International has just sent in their first team into Pakistan. They are deploying mobile relief hospitals and working with a local ngo in the area - PAK relief to assist 3,000 displaced persons in the area - intially.

Humedica International is calling for certified medical volunteers to join their team, download the volunteering form from here. You may also get in touch with Joerg Eich at +49-8341-9661480 or email j.eich@humedica.org

Map of affected area - 2

Rediff's map from this story.

Quake shakes subcontinent; thousands feared killed

ISLAMABAD, Oct 8 (Reuters) - A major earthquake shook cities and villages across the south Asian subcontinent on Saturday, "wiping out" several villages in Pakistan and leading to fears that the death toll could run into thousands.

Officials said heavy damage was expected in northern Pakistan, but details were difficult to obtain because telephone lines were down and mobile networks overwhelmed.

"The deaths could be running in the thousands. We do not have an exact figure for casualties at this moment, but it's massive," President Pervez Musharraf's spokesman, Major-General Shaukat Sultan, told Reuters following a aerial survey of stricken areas.

The earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.6, struck at 0350 GMT and was centred in forest-clad mountains of Pakistani Kashmir, near the Indian border, about 95 km (60 miles) northeast of Islamabad.

Source: Reuters AlertNet

Pakistan - Faisalabad - Stampede after quake injured several women

At least dozens of women workers of a textile mill wounded in stampede created when a strong quake hits Kharianwala, Faisalabad.

The injured were rushed to Kharianwala social security hospital where a woman reported in critical state. People still gathering in open areas and grounds due to quake fear.

Source: The Nation

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