Pakistan: Earthquake: 2005/10/08

Period	2005/10/08
Country or District	Pakistan
Event Type	Earthquake
Outline	The death toll has past 73,000 with more than 69,000 injuries in the strong earthquake having hit Pakistan, north India and Afghanistan on 8 October 2005. The US Geological Survey said the quake had a magnitude of 7.6 and the epicentre was 90km NNE of Islamabad.

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In Depth South Asia Quake

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Special Reports - South Asia Earthquake

Reuters AlertNet
South Asia arthquake

OCHA Situation Report No. 34 2006/01/27
Preparations are underway to face the anticipated worsening of the weather over the next few days. Priority is being given to the winterization of tents, heating of communal and individual tents, distribution of warm clothes to children and other activities to prevent outbreaks of disease in the aftermath of the bad weather.

OCHA Situation Report No. 33 2006/01/20
The weather once again ｃd operational concerns across all clusters. Several key roads were cut off by landslides and air assistance was grounded in the first three days of the reporting week (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday) so that much of the assistance could not be delivered.

OCHA Situation Report No. 32 2005/01/13
The first significant snow and rainfalls of the year came in at the beginning of January. There were widespread reports of tent collapses under snowfall, for both the earthquake-affected population and relief organisations.

OCHA Situation Report No. 31 2006/01/06
Heavy snow and rain in the earthquake-effected areas grounded helicopter operations and seriously hampered relief operations over the past week. According to the latest logistics report, most of the major routes around Muzaffarabad, Mansehra, Bagh and Batagram with the major exception of the Neelum Valley road have now reopened. Helicopters began operations again as of January 3rd, but more bad weather is expected.

OCHA Situation Report No. 30 2006/01/02
Since 31 December 2005, heavy rains and snowfall have hit most areas affected by the October earthquake. Forecast indicates continuing conditions for the next few days.

OCHA Situation Report No. 29 2005/12/23
The implementation of the winterization campaign is in progress. The aim is to provide each family in need in prioritised camps (i.e. more than 50 tents) with one tent, two pieces of plastic sheeting, four mattresses, one stove, and three blankets per person.

OCHA Situation Report No. 28 2005/12/16
The transition from military to civilian authority is gaining momentum. Pakistan Military is likely to remain engaged in management of planned camps, thereby allowing provincial authorities to concentrate on providing service support to spontaneous settlements.

OCHA Situation Report No. 27 2005/12/09
It is estimated that a minimum of 2.5 million people are now living in tents or in emergency/ transitional shelters below 5000ft. There are still 350,000- 400,000 people remaining at ‘risk areas’ in higher elevations.

OCHA Situation Report No. 26 2005/12/02
Downward migration from highland areas continues sporadically although actual numbers are difficult to assess. There is an on-going concern over if there is sufficient capacity to accommodate populations arriving in planned camps, and if there are appropriate conditions, particularly in self-settled camps.

OCHA Situation Report No. 25 2005/11/24
Preparedness for population movements requires increased focus. People from high altitude villages continue to descend to lower areas. There are indications, however, that affected communities prefer to remain in their villages if they can survive with adequate shelter and sufficient food throughout the winter.

OCHA Situation Report No. 24 2005/11/20
- Of the total 2.3 million dependents of food assistance, it is estimated that only 1.4 million (60%) are receiving an average 1,600 kcal per day. The challenge is to significantly increase both the tonnage delivered and area covered as weather conditions impede delivery capacity by road. - Winterization of tents remains a challenge, as it is difficult to track the type and locations of tents that have been distributed. Supply of GCI sheeting is a constraint as sufficient quantities of material are not available. Stoves are also urgently needed.

OCHA Situation Report No. 23 2005/11/16
- Given the imminent onset of winter, there is an urgent need to ensure that assistance is in place, whether people decide to stay in place or to move down. - The delivery of assistance – shelter, food and non-food items - to populations living in remote villages at high elevations remains a major priority.

OCHA Situation Report No. 22 2005/11/11
1. Population movements from the mountainous, remote villages to the lower grounds continue and contingency planning based on scenarios of projected population movements requires focused attention. 2. Although camp development continues at a rapid pace, uncontrolled population movement could overwhelm facilities currently available. Continued provision of assistance to populations in situ also remains advisable for those who do not plan to move.

OCHA Situation Report No. 21 2005/11/08
As winter approaches and, despite the combined efforts of the Government and humanitarian community, conditions for many of the affected populations remain poor, and concerns are growing at the impact this has on health. In addition, the need for female medical staff in the affected areas continues to be stressed.

OCHA Situation Report No. 20 2005/11/05
To date the confirmed contributions to the Flash Appeal stand at USD 84 million out of the USD 550 million requested (15% funded). An additional USD 48 million has been pledged. The lack of funding is affecting helicopter operations, and WFP now has to borrow money to keep relief operations running.

Reuters AlertNet 2005/11/03
The Pakistani government on Wednesday raised the official death toll from the devasting earthquake that hit the north of the country last month to 73,276 and said it could rise further.

The News International Pakistan
Special News Page "Severe Earthquake Jolts Pakistan"

OCHA Situation Report No. 19 2005/11/01
1. The homeless estimates go as high as 3.2 million, scattered in 15,000 villages. It is increasingly recognized that all delivered and mobilized tents will not be sufficient to address the enormous shelter needs. Increasingly, non-tents options are being actively pursued, including the use of salvage material to create and rehabilitate shelter. Shelter “repair kits” are being distributed to facilitate this.

BBC News 2005/10/31
The 8 October South Asian earthquake killed at least 17,000 children when their schools collapsed, the UN children's fund, Unicef, says. It said those that survived were either injured or suffered the trauma of losing friends and teachers.

OCHA Situation Report No. 18 2005/10/30
1. The prospect of a secondary humanitarian disaster continues to loom as thousands of injured remain stranded in isolated mountainous areas, without food, shelter or sanitation. 2. The outcome of the ministerial pledging conference in Geneva is seen as disappointing in country, in terms of amounts pledged for the most immediately required life saving operations.

OCHA Situation Report No. 17 2005/10/27
1. The situation is getting more desperate. It is currently estimated that as much as 30% of the areas affected have not been reached, which could translate into at least 200,000 people not getting the assistance they need. 2. There is in all likelihood only a three-week window of opportunity to deliver assistance before the snow falls in mountainous areas which could close off two of the three main valleys where many of the affected live.

Reuters AlertNet 2005/10/26
Donor governments promised half a billion dollars of new earthquake aid to Pakistan on Wednesday after U.N. officials warned that hunger, cold and injuries might kill more people than the quake itself. But millions of survivors with little food or shelter were left guessing how much would reach them before winter snow blankets the remote Himalayan valleys of Pakistani Kashmir.

OCHA Situation Report No. 16 2005/10/23
1. There is a three-week window of opportunity to deliver assistance to mountainous areas before the first snowfall. According to reports from the authorities severe weather, with heavy rain, is forecasted to hit the area in the next three to four days. 2. Currently nearly 2,000 patients are treated daily in Batagram. 5. 90% of the structures in Bagh have totally collapsed. In Bagh and Muzaffarabad, the pipe network was severely damaged ceasing all distribution of water through the system. 6. More than 90,000 people require shelter in Batagram.

OCHA Situation Report No. 15 2005/10/25
1. The numbers of casualties of the earthquake continue to grow. Casualties are likely to increase further as the situation worsens daily and as the exact impact of what may have been the most devastating earthquake on the subcontinent ever, unfolds. 2.The window of opportunity for life-saving operations is estimated to last for about 25 days before the winter sets in.

BBC News 2005/10/20
The UN says the shortfall in aid for victims of the South Asian quake has made the relief situation worse than after last December's tsunami. UN emergency relief chief, Jan Egeland, said the organisation had never seen such a "logistical nightmare".

OCHA Situation Report No. 14 2005/10/19
4. It is estimated that as many as 50,000 of those injured have not been reached. UNICEF have stated that as many as 120,000 children have not been reached of whom an estimated 10,000 could die of hunger, hypothermia and disease within the next few weeks. 5. The numbers of survivors and injured remain unknown and the emphasis is now to determine how many people still need to be reached by emergency assistance. Many have been observed to come down the mountain to fetch supplies before returning to their settlements. 6. 26 hospitals have been destroyed or are too unstable for use. Most of the 600 health clinics in the affected areas have also been destroyed.

OCHA Situation Report No. 13 2005/10/18
1. The situation for millions of people in Pakistan affected by the South Asia earthquake has become dire. While aid is beginning to arrive, there are millions of people, homeless, in need of all forms of assistance - the most urgent being shelter, heating equipment, water and sanitation, food and medical help.

Reuters AlertNet 2005/10/17
Vital helicopter flights carrying food, blankets and tents to untold numbers of survivors of the earthquake in northern Pakistan resumed on Monday as lashing rains which compounded their misery ended. But many are likely to die before help can reach them in the remnants of remote mountain villages cut off by landslides and buckled roads with winter approaching rapidly.

OCHA Situation Report No. 12 2005/10/17
2. The large number of injured continues to overwhelm current capacity. Many may not be treated in time resulting in further deaths and disabilities. 3. Whilst aid is beginning to gradually trickle through to the neediest accessible areas, adequate distribution systems for relief items are not yet fully in place. There is a need to mobilize implementing partners.

OCHA Situation Report No. 11 2005/10/16
2. One week after the earthquake, the combination of: sheer numbers of injured, enormous logistical challenges and rapidly deteriorating weather conditions, indicates that the relief operations are still at the life-saving stage. The most critical priorities are winterised shelter, medical, water and sanitation and nutrition. Urgent attention needs to be given to reaching populations in villages.

OCHA Situation Report No. 10 2005/10/15
2. There are now over 100 international and national relief organizations delivering relief inside Pakistan. Substantial relief supplies are being received, but heavy rains over the last 24 hours are hampering emergency operations. 3. The most critical challenge at this stage is the logistics of delivering winterised shelter material to inaccessible areas. Helicopters, tents, ground sheeting, blankets, and medical care remain the most crucial requirements.

OCHA Situation Report No. 9 2005/10/14
2. Large amounts of national and international relief aid are now arriving and being delivered to affected populations. 3. Much more aid is needed, and numerous people outside of populated areas are still cut off and remain without shelter. Many still need medical assistance and are waiting to be airlifted out of the devastated areas.

Reuters AlertNet 2005/10/15
Pakistan raised the official death toll from the Kashmir earthquake to 38,000 on Saturday, a week after one of the most devastating quakes to hit South Asia in recorded history. "I think it is going to rise," President Pervez Musharraf told a news conference after his aides released the latest toll. Pakistani Kashmir and North West Frontier Province bore the brunt of the earthquake's power and the jump in the toll came after confirmation of more fatalities from remote mountain valleys and the town of Balakot.

OCHA Situation Report No. 8 2005/10/13
1. Assessment teams are returning from Muzaffarabad and other affected areas and continue to report unbelievable destruction. Buildings are flattened and there are scores of injured people with compound fractures, infected wounds, and traumatic amputations. 2. It has been emphasized that injuries are so severe that in addition to basic first aid, trauma first aid is necessary. Mobile surgical teams are being deployed, but surgeons, more field hospitals, paramedics, and appropriate medicines (especially antibiotics and typhoid vaccines) are needed. 3. Relief items, especially winterised tents, heating equipment, and medicines must be received quickly in order to avert a secondary catastrophe. Prevention of epidemics is especially important. Additional health personnel are urgently required.

Reuters AlertNet 2005/10/13
The United Nations voiced concern at the desperate situation faced by tens of thousands of Pakistanis who spent a sixth cold night in the open following the killer quake that levelled their homes. This is our worst nightmare -- a very major earthquake in the Himalaya mountains just before winter sets in, with millions of people affected and more than a million people homeless," the U.N.'s top emergency relief co-ordinator Jan Egeland said on BBC television after visiting affected areas.

OCHA Situation Report No. 7 2005/10/12
2. Access to the affected areas continues to be one of the major challenges of both search and rescue as well as relief operations. Traffic on most roads leading to the area is extremely heavy, chaotic, often interrupted and slow. Worsening weather conditions, rain and hailstorms, have threatened to further aggravate road conditions and have hampered operations in the quake-affected areas.

Special Press Summary on the Earthquake in Pakistan, Center of Excellence Disaster Management Humanitarian Affairs (COE)
1. Assessment: On Saturday, a devastating earthquake hit at the heart of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, killing over 80,000 people and leaving hundreds of thousands of people homeless or in urgent need of shelter in the affected Himalayan areas of Kashmir, Pakistan and India. The Pakistan and Kashmir governments are concentrating on rescue and recovery operations, humanitarian assistance to hundreds of thousands of displaced persons, and assessing damages. A plethora of international aid has been flowing into Pakistan, including from rivals India and Israel, providing much needed aid. Complicating matters, severe thunderstorms caused heavy rains and subsequent mudslides that have seriously impeded relief efforts by limiting access to remote areas, prompting Pakistan to request primarily helicopters for their rescue efforts. The impact on regional economies has not been fully assessed, although international organizations warn of impending political and economic fallout, already simmering due to a lack of adequate government response to the hardest-hit areas.

Reuters AlertNet 2005/10/12
Food, blankets and other supplies poured into northern Pakistan on Wednesday as the mission in the Kashmir earthquake turned from rescue and toward relief for the 3.3 million people affected by the disaster. But four days after the quake that government officials believe may have claimed more than 40,000 lives in Pakistan and India, many of those worst affected had yet to see any aid, despite huge pledges from around the world.

CNN 2005/10/12
Millions of people remain homeless in the Himalayan regions of northern Pakistan and India following last weekend's earthquake that has claimed more than 41,000 lives. As Wednesday morning approached, new threats loomed for the people left without shelter following the quake; international health experts warned of potential disease threats from the devastated public sanitation systems.

BBC News 2005/10/11
Bad weather has been hampering aid efforts in Pakistan, three days after the South Asian earthquake. Torrential rains briefly grounded helicopters and slowed the progress of relief trucks on the roads. Some aid has begun to reach some towns near the epicentre of the disaster. But many thousands are spending a fourth night in the cold with little shelter. Pakistan's prime minister says 23,000 people have died in the country, correcting earlier reports of 33,000.

OCHA Situation Report No. 6 2005/10/11
1. According to the information provided by the Government of Pakistan, the current estimate of casualties amounts to approximately 33,000 people. There are 120,000 people in urgent need of shelter, and up to 4 million could be left homeless. 2. One of the key challenges in meeting the needs of the affected population is access, which is severely hampered by landslides. Most affected areas are accessible only by helicopters, although some works to clear the blockages on the roads has been ongoing and some roads have been reopened. Currently it takes 6 to 7 hours to reach the affected areas from Islamabad by land. Therefore, the immediate priority over the coming days will be to ensure access and delivery of urgently needed assistance to the affected population.

OCHA Situation Report No. 5 2005/10/10
1. The Government of Pakistan estimates the number of casualties caused by the massive earthquake stands at 23,000. In addition, over 4 million people have been affected by the earthquake of which 1 million was affected seriously and 42, 397 are confirmed to be injured. 2. Over 140 aftershocks were recorded, 21 of which were over 5.0 on the Richter scale. The delivery of aid is hampered by the mountainous area, cold weather and damaged or collapsed infrastructure . The retrieval of bodies and arrangements of burials are ongoing.

OCHA Situation Report No. 4 2005/10/09
2. Casualty figures are difficult to predict, with estimates of deaths today ranging between 18,000 and 30,000. Although neither figure can be confirmed, high figures are to be expected. 3. The region faces enormous logistical difficulties with all roads cut until one road was opened to light vehicles since late in the afternoon. Hence relief supplies and assessments to Muzaffarabad, one of the most affected areas, can only be undertaken using scarce and limited air resources, mainly helicopters.

OCHA Situation Report No. 3 2005/10/08
1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan stated that in addition to rescue teams, the Government of Pakistan would also welcome relief assistance, namely tents, blankets, food and medicines.

CNN 2005/10/10
Searchers worked through the night to find more survivors of Pakistan's worst earthquake, as some people expressed anger over the pace of relief efforts. The 7.6 magnitude earthquake was felt across northern Pakistan and the disputed region of Kashmir as well as parts of India and Afghanistan. The death toll has topped 30,000 in Pakistan alone, with another 999 dead in India and one reported death in Afghanistan.

CNN 2005/10/08
The Pakistan earthquake toll has reached 18,000 dead and more than 41,000 injured, Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, a spokesman for Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, said Sunday. Sultan told CNN the figure was as of 7.am. (10 p.m. ET Saturday). CNN could not independently verify Sultan's figures. He said the magnitude 7.6 quake that struck Pakistan and parts of India and Afghanistan on Saturday morning had killed 18,020 and injured 41,188 people.

BBC News 2005/10/09
Pakistan says more than 18,000 have been killed by Saturday's powerful earthquake that also hit northern India and Afghanistan.

OCHA Situation Report No. 2 2005/10/08
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.

Reuters AlertNet 2005/10/09
The death toll from a huge earthquake in Pakistan and India headed towards 2,000 on Sunday as rescuers dug out the corpses of hundreds of children buried under their schools and found villages reduced to rubble.

CNN News 2005/10/08
The death toll from a magnitude 7.6 earthquake that rocked in South and Central Asia early Saturday has risen to 351. Officials have warned the number of people killed by the quake -- centered in Pakistan but felt in India and Afghanistan -- could reach into the thousands.

Pak Tribune 2005/10/08
Strong intensity quake jolts Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta and other parts of country. Intensity of the tremor measured 7.6 at Richter scale.

OCHA Situation Report No.1(2005/10/08)
Strong tremors were felt in northern Pakistan, rocking buildings in the capital Islamabad. Severe damage to buildings have been reported from Islamabad.

Reuters AlertNet 2005/10/08
A major earthquake shook cities and villages across the south Asian subcontinent on 8 October 2006, "wiping out" several villages in Pakistan and leaving more than 1,000 people feared dead.

BBC News 2005/10/08
Quake hits Indo-Pakistan border. Pakistan's army says it fears heavy damage in northern areas. A government official said the eventual death toll could be "very high".

Geographycal Data

Reuters AlertNet 2005/10/18
Pakistan Earthquake Disaster Situation Overview Map at 18-Oct. 2005

OCHA ReliefWeb 2005/10/08
Pakistan, India, Afghanistan: Earthquakes - Situation map

OCHA ReliefWeb Earthquake Situation Map
Earthquake Situation Map

USGS Earthquake Hazards Program 2005/10/08
A major earthquake occurred at 03:50:38 (UTC) on Saturday, October 8, 2005. The magnitude 7.6 event has been located in PAKISTAN.

[ERI Emergency Relief Information]

The International Federation of Red Cross
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is issuing a preliminary emergency appeal for 10.8 million Swiss francs to support some 30,000 families, victims of the devastating earthquake which struck the region bordering Pakistan, northern India and Afghanistan on 8 October.

Pictures

Reuters 2005/10/31
PICTURES: South Asia Earthquake Survivors

Earthquake Research Institute,University of Tokyo
Report of Pakistan Earthquake (2005/10/08)

Reuters AlertNet 2005/10/08
Featured here is a selection of images relating to a major earthquake which shook cities and villages across the south Asian subcontinent on Saturday, including the Pakistani capital Islamabad where scores of people were feared killed or trapped when two buildings collapsed.