Pakistan (Kashmir) Earthquake Owen McCleery MYP5

The Earthquake -The epicentre lays within the Himalayan region of Pakistan, at 8:50:38 am on October 8 th 2005, a massive earthquake with a 7.6 magnitude, on the rictor scale, struck Kashmir. The region is controlled by Pakistan and India. -Kashmir lies on top of two tectonic plates: The large Eur- Asian plate and the small, Indian plate.

It caused  Landslides which blocked the Karakoram highway which affected rescue attempts and aid.  The 200 year old Moti Mahal fort in India was destroyed. Buildings in Delhi and Amhristar collapsed.  Disease, such as the measles were spread to the survivors to create even poorer quality living conditions.  Cost of damage repair was 5 billion dollars (300 billion Pakistan rupees).

Relief  The UN donated 270 Million dollars in relief to try to aid the survivors in as many ways as possible.  Turkey helped airlift aid into the countries.  The UK created a charity, called Kashmir Relief and Development Foundation.  Russian aid rescued a woman after she was trapped for 100 hours.

The Magnitude  Besides Pakistan and India, China, Afghanistan and Tibet are also affected.  The provincial capital Muzaffarabad, has been reduced to rubble.  With 87,000 are dead, 3,000,000 are homeless and 70,000 injured “The scale of this tragedy almost defies the darkest of our imagination” - Kofi Annan.  140 aftershocks. And 1000 hospitals within the area have been destroyed allowing a wild fire spread of disease among survivors.  Said to be 20 times more lethal then Hurricane Katrina.  Hundreds of thousands are said to have died of starvation or due to the cold of the winter which closely followed the earthquake.

Bibliography  dyn/content/article/2005/10/11/AR html dyn/content/article/2005/10/11/AR html    effects-of-earthquakes-and-how-people-respond-to- them effects-of-earthquakes-and-how-people-respond-to- them