Magnitude 6.4
Date-Time
* Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 23:09:58 UTC
* Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 04:09:58 AM at epicenter
* Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location 30.653°N, 67.323°E
Depth 15 km (9.3 miles) set by location program
Region PAKISTAN
Distances 60 km (35 miles) NNE of Quetta, Pakistan
185 km (115 miles) SE of Kandahar, Afghanistan
195 km (120 miles) NNE of Kalat, Pakistan
640 km (400 miles) WSW of ISLAMABAD, Pakistan
Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 6.1 km (3.8 miles); depth fixed by location program
Parameters NST=130, Nph=130, Dmin=460.8 km, Rmss=1.23 sec, Gp= 25°,
M-type=regional moment magnitude (Mw), Version=7
Source
* USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Event ID us2008yscs
* This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.
29 Oct 2008 14:29:21 GMT
Source: International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) - Switzerland
Geneva/Islamabad (ICRC) – Thousands of people have been made homeless and hundreds have been killed or injured by three earthquakes, which rocked southwest Pakistan before daybreak on Wednesday.
The consecutive quakes, with magnitudes of 6.2, 6.2 and 6.4 on the Richter scale respectively, hit the Balochistan province and were followed by aftershocks.
"There is no clear information yet on the number of dead or injured but initial reports indicate that hundreds of people may have been wounded or killed and that thousands may be without shelter," said the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross' (ICRC) sub-delegation in Quetta, Andrew Bartles-Smith.
Two ICRC teams have reached the affected area and are on the spot assessing the situation and needs.
They say aftershocks are continuing and that frightened residents are staying outdoors in the cold.
The affected districts are Pashin, Ziarat and Killa Saifullah.
It is a hilly region and several roads are reported to be blocked.
The total population of Ziarat district, reportedly the hardest hit, is estimated at around 50,000.
The Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has sent two teams to the earthquake-hit region to distribute relief supplies for 100 families.
The team includes 28 staff and volunteers, as well as two mobile health teams.
The ICRC intends to send medical kits to the region.
A surgical and medical team will fly from Peshawar early on Thursday.
The ICRC is working closely with the PRCS and stands ready to increase its humanitarian response to those in need.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is also sending a support team to the region, including a disaster management expert, a health specialist and an information officer.
The ICRC is also in contact with military and government authorities, as well as local officials, regarding the humanitarian response to the disaster.
For more information, please contact:
Carla Haddad Mardini, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 22 730 2405 or + 41 79 217 3226
Simon Schorno, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 79 251 9302
Marco Succi, ICRC Islamabad, tel: +92 300 850 81 38
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Government and aid agencies respond in Pakistan’s quake-affected province
31 Oct 2008 22:08:40 GMT
Source: World Vision Middle East/Eastern Europe office (MEERO)
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
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By Syed Haider Ali & Andrea Swinburne-Jones
After consultation with the Pakistan Humanitarian Forum consortium and assessing needs and the government's and general NGO capacity, World Vision has decided not to respond to the earthquake now.
Yesterday afternoon, the Pakistan Humanitarian Forum, an emergency consortium, of which World Vision Pakistan is a member, met to discuss the earthquake. Numerous PHF members provided information from some initial assessments conducted. Information gathered indicated that the current disaster was not large scale.
'Four INGOs that were on the ground prior to the disaster are currently providing assistance, and the government and military have mobilised a good response. Based on this information, World Vision Pakistan has decided to not respond to this disaster for the time being,' said Graham Strong, World Vision Pakistan Country Director.
Relief efforts in terms of blankets, tents and food are being provided. Most of the organisations who responded immediately were those already working in Balochistan.
World Vision does not have any programs in the affected province of Balochistan.
The 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck about 70 kilometres north of Quetta, just after 4am local time Wednesday.
The official death toll from the earthquake is 215, with 500 people injured and more than 15,000 displaced. Some 170 people, mainly women and children, were killed in Ziarat alone.
Some 2-3,000 houses have been reported damaged and 500 have collapsed. In the city of Ziarat, houses are either partially or severely damaged. Dozens of schools, hospitals, government buildings and mosques have been destroyed and the roads linking Ziyarat with affected villages were blocked by landslides.
The main areas affected by the earthquake are Harnai, Qilla Abdullah, Vaam, Kelli Zargoom, Bolan, Sibi, Pishin, Loralai, Kohlu, Mastung, Kalat, Dera Murad Jamali, Sani Shooran, Chaman, Toba Achakzai, and Zhob.
The Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has requested 2,000 tents and 5,000 blankets so far, to assist survivors.
PHF has developed a web-based co-ordination system, allowing the consortium to determine the category and level of any given disaster in Pakistan. According to PHF members, the current disaster was classified as a Category 1 with a Level One Response. The situation will be reviewed on a regular basis and if new information becomes available PHF will re-classify the disaster.
The emergency consortium, developed following the October 2005 earthquake that killed more than 73,000 people and injured a similar number. World Vision assisted more than 116,000 people in the past 3 years through its earthquake relief and rehabilitation project, to rebuild their lives.
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Pakistani quake surviors beg for shelter from cold
02 Nov 2008 12:32:04 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Gul Yousafzai
WAM KHAZI, Pakistan, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Villagers in a southwest Pakistani region hit by a powerful earthquake demanded shelter on Sunday saying they need help before a bitter winter sets in or their children could die.
The 6.4 magnitude quake struck Baluchistan, Pakistan's largest but poorest province on Wednesday, destroying or damaging thousands of mud homes and killing at least 215 people.
The epicentre was in Ziarat district, a picturesque valley framed by mountains and one of the region's main tourist spots. But night-time temperatures in the relatively high-altitude area are falling below freezing.
"We've got food, we've got relief, but we don't have tents which can save our children from the cold," said Rehmat Kakar, a 70-year-old farmer standing by the rubble of his house in Wam Khazi village.
"We want those tents urgently. Please save our children, don't let them die," said Kakar, who said that four of his seven children were killed in the quake.
The disaster struck just over three years after 73,000 people were killed by a 7.6 magnitude quake hit Pakistan's northern mountains. Last year, the worst floods on record in Baluchistan killed hundreds.
Scores of aftershocks, some nearly as strong as the original quake, have jolted the region since Wednesday.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), one of several organisations helping with relief, appealed for $7.7 million to step up its emergency operations.
"Our priority will be to provide shelter as winter sets in," said Pascal Cuttat, head of the ICRC delegation in Islamabad.
"Because of continuing aftershocks, many people decided to sleep outdoors at altitudes of 2,000 to 2,500 metres (6,500-8,200 feet)," he said.
"GIVE US THE MONEY"
Another villager said with winter just weeks away, government aid efforts would be too slow.
"They should just give us money and let us rebuild our own houses," said Abdul Wahid.
There have been no reports of outbreaks of disease since the quake but aid officials say without proper shelter, people, especially children, will be vulnerable to common health risks.
A doctor from the paramilitary Frontier Corps helping with the relief effort said he was seeing many people, most of them children, with upper respiratory tract infections.
"We're receiving about 100 patients daily and the number may go up in coming weeks because of the cold," said the doctor, Usman Ahmed, in a clinic set up in Wam Khazi.
"Medical facilities are here but we need to do something urgently to keep people warm," he said.
The quake is one more headache for a government struggling with a balance of payments crisis and a surge of militant violence, but allies have promised help.
Saudi Arabia is giving $100 million while the United States and China had promised $1 million each for rehabilitation work.
Japan and several other countries had also promised help while the World Health Organisation said it was sending two truckloads of essential medicines and supplies.
The World Food Programme said it would provide 700 tonnes of dry food rations in initial relief supplies for an estimated 20,000 homeless.
But one aid group complained of poor coordination.
"There's duplication, like two agencies doing similar jobs in the same place," said Hafizullah Khan of the Muslim Hands international aid group. (Writing by Kamran Haider; Editing by Robert Birsel and Sami Aboudi)
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