Kashmir earthquake 8th October 2005

Occured 8:50 am

desctructive plate margin-  Indian plate forced under Eurasian plate

Focus depth approx 15 miles

epicentre close to Muzaffarabad 

978 aftershocks measured at least 4 on richter scale

13th most destructive earthquake on record

Damage US $5 billion 

whole villages 1000s of buildings destroyed

80% town of Uri destroyed

80,000 deaths - 13th highest death toll

3 million homeless

contaminated water supplies- dysentry, diarrhoea and cholera

Landslides buried people- blocked off access roads

Freezing winter conditions = < casualities - rescue & rebuilding operations difficult

2 major andslides happened each affected an area of < than 0.1km2 

one in Jhelum Valley and other one in Muzaffarabad

Jhelum landslide valley biggest over 1km wide and debris blocked 2 rivers

Earthquake = ground shifted < than 5m in some areas of Kashmir

Help didn't reach many areas days/weeks people had 2b rescued hand without any equip or help from emergency servcies.

Pakistani government set up Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) 

- coordinate activies with international agencies and NGOs

Approx 40,000 had to be relocated- destroyed town of Balakot

Tents, blankets & medical supplies distributed within a month- not to all affected areas

Gov money given to people with houses destroyed- rebuild themselves

New health centres set up 

No Hazard management

Poor communications and badly constructed, few roads 

No local disaster planning in place

Buildings not designed earthquake resistant-  many houses structurally poor-

people could not afford better buildings.

However, even government buildings were significantly affected e.g. in Muzaffarabad were structurallt unsound so damaged.