2005 Kashmir earthquake

2005 Kashmir Earthquake
Date	October 8 2005
Magnitude	7.6 Mw
Depth	10km
Epicenter location	Muzaffarabad
Countries affected	Pakistan, India, Afghanistan
Casualties	74,500+ dead 106,000+ injured

The earthquake' (also known as the South Asian earthquake or the Great Pakistan earthquake) of 2005, designates a major earthquake with its epicentre in the Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The earthquake occurred at 08:50:38 Pakistan Standard Time (03:50:38 UTC) on 8 October, 2005. Registering a debatable 7.7 or 7.6 on the richter scale, the quake compares in intensity to the 1935 Quetta earthquake, the 2001 Gujarat earthquake, and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. As of 8 November 2005, the Pakistani government's official death toll stood at 73,276, while officials say nearly 1,400 people died in Jammu and Kashmir and fourteen people in Afghanistan.

Human impact

Most of the affected people lived in mountainous regions with access impeded by landslides that blocked the roads, leaving an estimated 3.3 million homeless in Pakistan. The UN reported that the quake directly affected 4 million people, occurring prior to the commencement of winter snowfall in the Himalayan region. Damages incurred have been estimated at well over US$ 5 billion (300 billion Pakistani rupees) India and Pakistan opened five crossing points on the Line of Control (LoC) to facilitate the flow of humanitarian and medical aid to the affected region. International aid teams from around the world came to the region to assist in relief.

The earthquake

Map depicting tectonic plates shows Indian subcontinent and Eurasian land plate divide through Pakistan and Kashmir where earthquake activity commonly occurs.

Kashmir lies in the area of collision of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates. . The geological activity that precipitated the collision, lay at the root of unstable seismicity in the region. The activity also has been responsible for the birth of the Himalayan mountain range. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) measured its magnitude as a minimum of 7.6 on the moment magnitude scale, with its epicenter at {{#invoke:Coordinates|coord}}{{#coordinates:34|29|35|N|73|37|44|E| | |name= }}, about 19 km (11.8 miles) northeast of Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, and 100 km (65 miles) north-northeast of the national capital Islamabad. The USGS has classified the earthquake as "major". The hypocenter has been pinpointed at a depth of 26 km (16.2 miles) below the surface . The Japan Meteorological Agency estimated its magnitude at a minimum of 7.8. By comparison, the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake had a magnitude of 9.15.

The earthquake caused widespread destruction in northern Pakistan, as well as damage in Afghanistan and northern India. Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), western and southern parts of the Kashmir valley in the Indian Kashmir came out as the worst hit areas. Some parts of the Pakistani province of Punjab, the capital city of Islamabad, and the city of Karachi experienced a minor aftershock of magnitude 4.6. Many secondary earthquakes shook in the region, mainly to the northwest of the original epicenter. A total of 147 aftershocks had been registered in the first day after the initial quake, one recording a magnitude of 6.2 Twenty-eight of those aftershocks occurred with magnitudes greater. On October 19, a series of strong aftershocks, one with a magnitude of 5.8, occurred about 65 km (40.5 miles) north-northwest of Muzaffarabad. More than 978 aftershocks with a magnitude of 4.0 and above, shook the region as of 27 October 2005 that continue to occur daily.

Casualties

2005 Kashmir earthquake casualties
Location	Dead	Injured
Pakistan (NWFP & Kashmir)	73,338	100,000
India (Kashmir)	1,360	6,266
Afghanistan	4	14
Total	74,500+	106,000+

Most of the casualties resulting from the earthquake occurred in Pakistan where the official confirmed death toll stands at 74,698, registering higher than the massive scale of destruction of the Quetta earthquake of May 31, 1935. Nearly 1,400 people died in Indian-administered Kashmir, according to officials. International donors have estimated that about 86,000 died. Pakistani authorities have neither confirmed or endorsed those numbers.

With Saturday a normal school day in the region, most students attended school when the earthquake struck. Collapsing school buildings buried many students. Occurring during the month of Ramadan, the quake caught most people napping in their homes after their pre-dawn meal. Trapped in their homes, without time to escape during the earthquake, they perished in the rumble. Reports indicate that the quake completely wiped out entire towns and villages in Northern Pakistan. Surrounding areas also suffering severe damage.

"...a second, massive wave of death will happen if we do not step up our efforts now," Kofi Annan said on 20 October with reference to the thousand remote villages in which people are in need of medical attention, food, clean water and shelter and the 120,000 survivors that have not yet been reached."

According to Pakistan's Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz

"made the appeal to survivors" on 26 October to come down to valleys and cities for relief, because bad weather, mountainous terrain, landslides and blocked roads are making it difficult for relief workers to reach each house and the winter snows are imminent."

Damage

Pakistan administered Kashmir (Azad Kashmir)

• An assessment of damaged buildings in Muzaffarabad and the surrounding area, by the Earthquake Engineering Center of the University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar, showed that about 60 percent of the buildings in urban areas were unreinforced solid concrete block masonry buildings and it was the collapse of more than 60 percent of these buildings that was responsible for the majority of deaths and injuries.

• Pakistani television reports widespread severe damage to Balakot (almost completely wiped out), Garhi Habibullah, Rawalakot, and Muzaffarabad (near the epicenter) where 30,000 are thought to have died. The Pakistani Army spokesman, Major General Shaukat Sultan, told a press conference on 10 October that reports of damage in Rawalakot were exaggerated; 90 percent of the garrison city is still standing.
• The quake triggered landslides, burying entire villages and roads in many areas of North-West Frontier Province and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
• Hundreds of thousands of buildings are thought to have collapsed or sustained severe damage.
• One of two residential towers (Margalla Towers in F-10 sector, Islamabad), believed to contain up to sixty apartments each, collapsed in the earthquake in Islamabad. Pakistani government officials at the site stated the number of people affected by the collapse was in the hundreds, most of whom are feared dead. Over fifty-two people were rescued from the collapsed residential "Margalla Towers."
• A team from the International Rescue Corps at the site said they located three more victims on the Sunday morning using audio detection equipment after the difficult task of arranging total silence at the crowded rescue site.
• The Karakoram highway is blocked at several points, hindering relief efforts.
• Damage to buildings and several casualties have been reported in surrounding provinces of Punjab and NWFP.

Indian administered Kashmir (State of Jammu and Kashmir)

• 1,500 houses were destroyed in Uri. About 90% of the families living in the town, which has a population of 30,000, were affected by the quake. *More than 1,100 houses were flattened in Jammu and Kashmir. The main minaret of the Hazratbal shrine, which is believed to house a relic of the prophet Muhammad was damaged.
• The 200-year-old Moti Mahal fort in Poonch district, Kashmir, collapsed.
• Buildings in Delhi and Amritsar were damaged, and tremors caused panic in Gujarat.
• The tremors were also felt in Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh.
• There were over 1300 dead.

Afghan Territory

Four deaths were reported in Afghanistan, including a young girl who died in Jalalabad after a wall collapsed on her. The quake was felt in Kabul, but the effects were minimal.

Rescue and relief operations

Humanitarian aid reaches the devastated far flung areas of Northern Pakistan

Pakistani Soldiers carry tents away from a U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter here October 19. The United States took part in the multinational effort to provide humanitarian assistance and support to Pakistan and Afghanistan following the devastating October 8 earthquake.

Polish military engineers at work. 140 Polish soldiers were a part of the 1000 troops sent by NATO from ISAF in Afganistan.

Heavy snowfall in the region around the epicenter, shown here in a January 6, 2006 NASA satellite image, hampered relief efforts since beginning shortly after the earthquake struck.

Relief efforts in many remote villages were hampered, as roads were buried in rubble and many affected areas remained inaccessible. Heavy equipment was needed to clear the roads and to rescue survivors buried under the earthquake wreckage, as many rescuers were picking the rubble with pickaxes and their bare hands, looking for survivors.

Rescue effort were also affected by the numerous aftershocks that continued to rattle the region and put rescue workers in danger as they searched through the wreckage for survivors. Five crossing points were opened on the Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan in the province of Kashmir. The first was opened at Chakan Da Bagh in Poonch, the second at Kaman Post in Uri (on the road between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad) and the third across the Neelum river between Chiliana in Pakistan and Tithwal in India. These facilitated the flow of relief goods and allowed people to meet relatives across the Line of Control.

In many areas there was no power, or adequate food or water; there was also the danger of disease spreading , including measles. Distributing relief supplies to the victims was especially urgent as the victims face the risk of exposure to cold weather due to the region's high altitude and the approaching winter. Food, medicine supplies, tents and blankets were been identified by relief workers as essential items. On October 10, the United Nations warned that the earthquake left 2.5 million people homeless and they were in need of shelter. The UN made an appeal to raise US$272 million to help victims.

On October 13, snow started to fall on the Indian side of Kashmir. Many regions are facing an increasing threat of being cut off from help as snow forces closures of even more roads in the mountainous region.

Pakistan

In Northern Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the Pakistan Army has been directed to ask the concerned authorities to carry out an immediate assessment of the extent of damage caused by it. The Government of Pakistan opened President's Relief Fund for Earthquake relief operation, where donations can be made and also appealed for International Aid as the magnitude of the disaster becomes clear. Earthquake relief blankets, tents, medicine, warm clothes, food and many more supplies are needed. Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has offered free delivery of goods from anywhere in the world to Pakistan. Turkey has offered to airlift relief goods that arrive in Turkey to Pakistan free of cost. Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz spoke on the telephone with authorities in four provinces plus Azad Kashmir, and directed them to utilize all machinery and make all possible efforts to help the victims. He said the entire federal administration, civil and military authorities have been alerted, and relief goods have been provided to them for the victims of the quake. Most of the roads are closed in the Northern Sector near the earthquake, and some have been completely washed out or blocked by landslides, so the Pakistani army is flying supplies in by helicopter. In Garhi Habibullah, a town 205 miles (328 km) from the devastated city of Balakot in north-west Pakistan, a few Kashmiri fighters known as the mujahideen put aside their weapons and spent two days in helping rescue dozens of girls who were trapped in a collapsed building of a girls' school. However, some militant groups operating in Kashmir continued to attack and kill Indian soldiers in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir to prove that despite reports by India that claimed that terrorist training camps in Pakistan were destroyed, the militant network was still alive. Soon after the earthquake struck, NGO's started their relief efforts. Kashmir Relief and Development Foundation (KRDF), a UK based charity setup relief camps in all the major cities of Azad Jammu Kashmir and KRDF volunteers worked around the clock to help the earthquake victims. This included distribution of tents, food supplies, clothing and shelter with the help of individuals and various organizations.

On October 10, Monday, survivors were still being found and rescued from the wreckage including a 2-year-old girl in Islamabad. Then on Wednesday, a Russian rescue team rescued a 5-year-old girl in Muzaffarabad who has been trapped for nearly 100 hours. On October 14 the Pakistan government agreed that unaccompanied children from the disaster should be taken to the SOS Children emergency shelter in Islamabad for family tracing in a central database and help and created a credit programme for affected families. They also agreed that SOS should be temporary guardian until relatives were traced. The Pakistani people from all regions and walks of life donated a huge amount of relief supplies in both goods and money for the earthquake victims which is unprecedented in the history of nations. The magnitude of this disaster is so vast that the Government alone cannot provide relief to the people affected by this earthquake. The response of the people of Pakistan to help the government in its relief efforts has been overwhelming in the shape of donations, relief goods and volunteers working in the hospitals and the earthquake hit areas. The injured are being ferried from remote areas to the hospitals of Rawalpindi and Islamabad through helicopters every day. The relatives of these injured patients follow them to the twin-cities by road and pursue a long and painful search for their loved ones. Devastated with heavy losses of human lives and homes, these poor people often travel on foot from one hospital to another looking for their injured loved ones. Three surgeons from Harley Street went out for a week to help with the victims of the earthquake and set up a field hospital in the town of Bagh.

In the midst of the disaster, Focus Humanitarian Assistance (FOCUS), an agency affiliated with the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) responded by mobilizing specialized staff, volunteers and resources. FOCUS conducted search and rescue operations and distributed essential relief items to tens of thousands of families in the affected areas of Islamabad, Muzaffarabad and other remote regions of the country. To assist in the operations, FOCUS was able to bring in four AKDN helicopters which made numerous trips into the affected area, carrying relief items including staple foods such as oil, lentils and rice, as well as tents, blankets and medical supplies which were distributed to thousands in need. On their return journeys to Islamabad, the helicopters, along with numerous US military helicopters, carried survivors requiring urgent medical assistance. In recognition of their rescue and relief efforts, FOCUS received the Sitara-e-Eisaar, conferred by President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf on June 30, 2006. A large number of American, European, and Asian nonprofits also entered the region and mounted a massive relief operation that in some areas is still ongoing today.

In late 2006, a staggering $20 billion development scheme was mooted by Pakistan for reconstruction of the earth-quake hit zones in Azad Kashmir. A land use plan for Muzaffarabad city had been prepared by Japan International Cooperation Agency.

Pakistan established the Earthquake Reconstruction & Rehabilitation Authority to rebuild the area.

India

• In the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, the injured are being treated at Srinagar's SMHS hospital and the Uri Field Hospital, with many makeshift medical facilities being set up to help the injured. Hundreds of people have been brought in, many of them critically injured. In keeping with a traditional duty since independence, the Indian Army has undertaken a key role in coordinating and running relief operations.

• Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani visited quake-hit areas An ex gratia of Rs one lakh (100,000 Indian rupees, about US$2255) to the next of kin of those killed in the quake was being released from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund.

International response

Many countries, international organizations and non-governmental organizations have offered relief aid to the region, in the form of donation as well as relief supplies including food, medical supplies, tents and blankets.

Rescue and relief workers were sent to the region from different parts of the world and they brought along rescue equipment, including helicopters and rescue dogs.

The United Nations has appealed for donations to raise at least US$272 million to help victims of the quake.

File:Lions-House-Kashmir.jpg

Houses Constructed by Lions Clubs International

The International Association of Lions Clubs (LCI) & Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) donated an amount of US$ 892,000/- for the reconstruction of 150 houses along with supporting infrastructure and a water supply system at Village Anwar Sharif, Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir.

International Director Lion Malik Khuda Baksh and Past International President Lions Ashok Mehta

The project was completed in July 2007 and the houses were handed over to their occupants by the International Director of Lions Clubs International, Lion Malik Khuda Baksh on July 26, 2007. Mr. Raja Zulqarnain Khan, President of the Azad Kashmir was the Chief Guest of the Ceremony.

A team of volunteer New York City paramedics travelled to the remote villages of Kashmir two weeks after the earthquake and treated over 200 patients a day in a two week relief effort.

Many international relief organizations remain, particularly in the hard hit areas of NWFP and rural Kashmir.

See also

• Indian Kashmir barrier
• Bus Service Across The Barrier
• Timeline of the Kashmir conflict
• List of topics on the land and the people of “Jammu and Kashmir”
• DEMIRA Deutsche Minenraeumer e.V. - German Mine Clearer providing emergency medical aid after Pakistan earthquake

Notes

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• "A crisis of neglect." (6 November 2005). New Sunday Times, p. 18.
• "Pneumonia hits Pakistan quake zone." (8 November 2005). New Straits Times, p. 6.
• "Quake death toll now 87,350." (29 November 2005). New Straits Times, p. 6.

External links

Information

• Kashmir charitable trust UK. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
• Kashmir Relief & Development Foundation (KRDF). Retrieved December 18, 2007.
• Summary report on Muzaffrabad Earthquake. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
• Special Event Page, Amateur Seismic Centre, India. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
• national volunteer movement. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
• Geological Survey of Pakistan. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
• PakistanQuake.Com. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
• Oxfam America's South Asia Earthquake page. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
• MuzaffarabadOnline.Com. Retrieved December 18, 2007.

Multimedia

• Earthquake Picture Gallery. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
• Kashmir Earthquake Appeal (KRDF Videos). Retrieved December 18, 2007.
• Video of Earthquake caught by surveillance cameras in Islamabad, Pakistan at Google Video. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
• Annotated google map of the earthquake area, with photos (Map). Retrieved December 18, 2007.
• Why did the news interest fade so quickly on the 2005 Kashmir quake? - Produced by Yuli Yang (News Documentary). Retrieved December 18, 2007.
• Life in Kashmir Half a Year after the Quake (Part I) - Produced by Yuli Yang (News Documentary). Retrieved December 18, 2007.
• Life in Kashmir Half a Year after the Quake (Part II) - Produced by Yuli Yang (News Documentary). Retrieved December 18, 2007.

News articles

• "Photo journal: Earthquake in Uri Village", BBC News, October 10, 2005.. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
• "Quake prone constructions coming up", Kashmir Newz, October 07, 2006.. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
• "Photo journal: Return to Uri Village", BBC News, October 31, 2005.. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
• "Rich world 'failing' on quake aid", BBC News, October 26, 2005.. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
• "Quake 'is UN's worst nightmare'", BBC, October 20, 2005.. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
• "In Depth: South Asia Quake", BBC News, October 9, 2005.. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
• "Line of Control", D.C. Hammer, October 16, 2005.. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
• "Pakistani journalists send mission to assess damage to local media", IFEX, October 18, 2005.. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
• "A tale of two disasters—and two responses", DelwareOnline, November 20, 2005.. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
• "Aftershock: Gideon Yago's Diary In Pakistan", MTV News, 2005.. Retrieved December 18, 2007.

Commentary

• One year on Kashmir Earthquake haunts survivors by Zafar Sharif. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
• Christian Science Monitor October 14, 2005. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
• "Getting Things Done", Slate (magazine), October 14, 2005.. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
• "Quake highlights kashmir dispute", BBC News, December 21, 2005.. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
• "Why did the news interest fade so quickly on the 2005 Kashmir quake?" - Produced by Yuli Yang / May 2006 (News Documentary). Retrieved December 18, 2007.

General

• Conflict in Kashmir: Selected Internet Resources by the Library, University of California, Berkeley, USA; University of California at Berkeley Library Bibliographies and Web-Bibliographies list. Retrieved December 18, 2007.

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